


Were We Ever Friends

by ThatOneAwkwardFangirl_Liz_Cecil



Series: Valentine's Shorts 2019 [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (because this is just the first chapter), (watari is a good friend), (you know the kyouyaha drill), Aromantic Asexual Watari Shinji, Boundaries, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gay Disaster Kyoutani Kentarou, Hurt/Comfort, Kyoutani does a great Oikawa impression, Literal Sleeping Together, Lots of Gay-Lesbian Solidarity, M/M, Minor Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Mutual Pining, Next Gen Captains Shenanigans, Oikawa is a nosy senpai, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Affection, Poetry, Post-Canon, Save Watari 2k19, Self-Doubt, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, Team Bonding, Team Mom Watari, Training Camp, Truth or Dare, Volleyball Angst, Wingman Watari Shinji, Yahaba doesn't know what he's doing, just some disaster gays doing their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2019-11-01 20:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 52,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17874002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneAwkwardFangirl_Liz_Cecil/pseuds/ThatOneAwkwardFangirl_Liz_Cecil
Summary: This fic was borne of the idea I had talking to my girlfriend when I said, "Hey, I bet Watari could do a surprisingly accurate Iwazumi impression. But like, to everyone's surprise, it's Kyoutani who can impersonate Oikawa." And then my creative mind ran wild~ with the possibilities. (and a full plot)Yahaba and Kyoutani never seemed to get along, but when their senpais graduate and it's their turn to lead the club, something shifts. They don't know what (even if everyone else does), but luckily, Watari can nudge them in the right direction.(God bless Watari Shinji; everyone would be lost without him.)Can be read alone, but I would recommend readingthisfor more clarity on what's going on here.(Title fromHold Me Tight or Don't)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shitty poems to start off each chapter for reasons that will be explained later...on a side note, sorry that the poems are, you know, shitty
> 
> Anyways I'm not gonna lie I really hate this chapter but I wrote it three times and just kind of had to accept that the beginning is basically crack and the rest is just jumpy and trying to set up some sort of exposition for the rest of the fic that I have planned? I hope you enjoy it regardless

_I saw you today,_

_For the second first time;_

_There was something unfamiliar,_

_In the way you smiled;_

_And I could tell:_

_This would be our new start._

 

Maybe the first practice was always weird after the third-years retired.

Sure, Iwaizumi, Oikawa, Matsukawa, and Hanamaki still came to practice some days, but it really was about the younger members of the team now. Iwaizumi and Oikawa were especially becoming more withdrawn from club activities. They were trying to prepare Shigeru to be captain, Kyoutani to be his ace.

Shigeru didn’t want Kyoutani to be his ace, his spiker, his vice-captain, but there weren’t a lot of choices. He felt like _he_ wasn’t even the right person to be captain, but that only left Watari then, and Watari couldn’t be captain. He was a libero. It was a real shame, too, because Shigeru was pretty sure his best friend was much more qualified.

But whatever.

It was one of those practices without the third-years. Well, Hanamaki and Matsukawa came, but mostly to heckle the younger team members. Shigeru was used to that by now.

What he wasn’t used to was having to rein in all his fellow teammates. He had no idea how to get their attention. Everyone was lounging around the gym, maybe a couple of them stretching, but mostly? It was chaos. Chaos that Shigeru didn’t know how to reel in.

He glanced at Kyoutani by his side. The ace-to-be was doing a splits-stretch, which felt weird to be looking at. Shigeru wondered if maybe Kyoutani could use his scariness to get the team to pay attention, but…probably not. For as intense as he was, he was also quiet.

Watari emerged from the clubroom with a water bottle, and he frowned at what was going on around them. He raised an eyebrow at Shigeru, who just shrugged. Watari clapped his hands together to get their attention.

“That’s right, Shinji! Be the new team mom!” Hanamaki cheered.

“Embrace it!” Matsukawa added, making a hugging gesture before wrapping his arms around himself.

“I don’t think I’m going to miss them,” Kyoutani huffed, switching which side he was stretching.

_How is he so flexible? Why haven’t I seen that before? Why am I noticing it now? Focus, Shigeru. You’re the captain now. Well, okay, to be fair, Oikawa was always checking out Iwaizumi… No! That’s not what you’re doing, is it? Stop that._

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kyoutani asked, scowling.

“No reason!”

“Right…”

He looked back up to Watari, who was getting ready to kill the first years.

“Come on! It’s time to warmup! If you don’t, then you’ll hurt yourself during practice,” he shouted.

Kunimi rolled his eyes, and Kindaichi shouted, “You’re not my real team mom!”

Little shits.

“You want Iwaizumi?” Watari asked, crossing his arms. “Is that who you’d listen to?”

“To be fair, he is scary,” Shigeru pointed out.

“Not helping, Shige.”

“Right, sorry, Shinji.”

“I mean, I _want_ Iwaizumi-san,” Kindaichi ventured, “but I bet you six-hundred yen that you couldn’t mimic him if you tried.”

“Ooh~.” Kunimi leaned forward. “You gonna let him talk to you like that, Watari-senpai?”

Watari laughed. “Come on, Iwaizumi-san would not be hard to mimic, don’t you think?”

“I have to see it to believe it,” Kindaichi sang.

Shigeru noticed that Hanamaki had his phone out and was smirking, likely filming the whole thing. This was going to be interesting.

Watari cleared his throat and said in the deepest voice he could manage, “Time to warmup, everyone! If you don’t warmup, you don’t get a meat bun after practice!”

Kindaichi shrugged. “I don’t believe you, but I’ll stretch anyways.”

“Oi, dumbass!” Watari bravely continued, marching over to where Kyoutani was stretching. Shigeru had to try not to laugh. It was actually…not that off. “You’re being too reckless with your stretching routine. Do you want to aggravate your bad knee? Are you stupid?”

Shigeru was expecting Kyoutani to roll his eyes and snort at him. It was, after all, a known fact that Kyoutani didn’t totally hate Watari. He was not, however, expecting Kyoutani, in the whiniest voice he could muster, to say:

“ _Mean_ , Iwa-chan! Iwa-chan is mean!”

“If you don’t take care of yourself, the whole team suffers!” Watari continued. It was the speech they’d heard their senpais exchange almost every day.

“I’m taking _perfect_ care of myself!” Kyoutani flipped his imaginary bangs and huffed.

Shigeru had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing.

“You’re reckless and you overwork yourself! Stop setting a shitty example!”

“Iwa-chan, don’t be so vulgar!”

That was the moment the entire team lost it, laying on the floor and laughing. Shigeru lost his self-control and doubled over, laughing himself to tears.

“Jeez, Yahaba, are you _crying_?” Watari laughed.

“I just can’t – haha – oh my god!” was all he could say.

“I put that on my Snapchat story, by the way,” Hanamaki announced, holding his boyfriend who was dying in a fit of laughter.

“What?” Kyoutani gasped.

“No!” Watari dove impressively over to the bleachers, grabbing for Hanamaki’s phone. “Oh my god! They’re going to kill us!”

“But at least you’ll die six-hundred yen richer,” Matsukawa offered, helping Hanamaki keep the phone away.

“You did a great impression, Shinji,” Shigeru called. “And _you_.” He narrowed his eyes at Kyoutani and shook his head. “You impress me.”

“It’s not that impressive,” Kyoutani replied, the tips of his ears turning red. “I’m just familiar with how Oikawa-san sounds when he bitches and whines.”

“They’re so going to kill you two,” Shigeru laughed. “It was nice knowing you.”

Once the laughter died down, the team carried on with practice.

 

Shigeru couldn’t help but chuckle every time he remembered the start of practice. When he tossed for Kyoutani, their eyes would meet, and one of them would start laughing again. He had never seen Kyoutani smile or laugh so much (if at all).

It was kind of beautiful.

_Wait, what? No, unthink that right now._

“Yahaba-!” Watari called as he sent a ball to him. Caught in that uncomfortable though, Shigeru didn’t react in time, and the ball hit him on the head. “Shige?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, I – um – I got distracted. Brain got away from me. That’s my fault. I’m focused now.”

He tried to ignore the look of concern and confusion Kyoutani was giving him.

 

“ _Ahem_.”

Shigeru froze as the team was cleaning up for the night. That could only be one person – well, two people, together.

“KyouKen-chan! You seem to enjoy mocking your senpai!”

Shigeru turned to see Oikawa, a fake smile plastered on his lips and darkness in his eyes. Yikes. He reminded himself to never be on the receiving end of one of those looks.

Just behind him was Iwaizumi, who had a completely different demeanor. One arm crossed his body, his other hand on his face. His lips were pressed so tightly, his eyes twitching, that it was clear he wanted to laugh.

“Hey, Shige, can you pass me the – uh-oh.” Watari went pale when he saw the two who had entered the gym.

Iwaizumi let out a snort that quickly evolved into a fit of giggles – _giggles_? That was weird, but it was also the most beautiful thing Shigeru had ever seen.

(It was a known fact that the smile of Iwaizumi Hajime had given the entire Seijoh team a gay crisis, other than Watari.)

“ _Iwa-chan_!” Oikawa whined, hitting him. “It’s not funny! They’ve made a mockery of our good names!”

“Kyoutani-kun,” Iwaizumi managed between laughs, “I think you make a better Oikawa than the real thing.” He clapped Kyoutani on the back.

Kyoutani’s whole face turned red. “Th-thank you! I think?”

Iwaizumi laughed again and squeezed his shoulder. Kyoutani blushed harder, which made Shigeru feel sick.

He was probably jealous that Kyoutani got to be practically hugged by the attractive former ace, though. That made the most sense.

“Haba-chan!” Oikawa cried. “I can’t believe you didn’t defend my honor!”

Shigeru shrugged. “Um, sorry, Oikawa-san, but you have to admit that it was an uncanny impersonation.”

He gasped. “You come into my house! You insult my family! Unbelievable!”

“I think Kindaichi owes me six-hundred yen,” Watari remembered. “Give Kyoutani half.”

Kindaichi grumbled but obliged.

 

“So, are we going to talk about the look you gave him this time, or are we pretending it didn’t happen?” Watari asked Shigeru as they walked home.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Shinji.” And Shigeru _didn’t._ “You mean Iwaizumi-san? I always look at him like that.”

“Well, I know that,” he laughed. “No. I meant Kyoutani.”

Shigeru stopped. “W-what? Now I _really_ don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied.

“So, the latter. That’s okay.”

“What did you mean by _this time_?” he asked, feeling nervous. “And are people talking about it?”

Watari laughed. “No one notices. Well, no, Oikawa-san probably has, but that’s only because he’s freaky observant.”

“It’s probably just because we’re becoming friends.”

“Are you? Because _I’m_ friends with Kentarou, and you still…aren’t. You just don’t fight with him anymore.”

Shigeru frowned. He had him there. “Okay. Well, then, I don’t know.”

“You know, it’s only two days until Valentine’s Day,” Watari ventured.

“Yeah, and?”

He spread his hands. “You know.”

“I don’t know.”

“You could do something for him, instead of creeping on his stretching routine.” Watari laughed and tried to pass it off as a cough.

“I was _not_ creeping on his stretching routine!” Shigeru gasped.

“Look, I’m _just saying_. Even if you don’t tell him. Just do something nice for him. Then, see if you even want to tell him.”

“Easy enough for you to say,” he grumbled. “You’ve never had to deal with this, and you never will.”

“Thank god. It seems really annoying,” Watari sighed. “I love being aro-ace.”

“I hate being bisexual,” Shigeru groaned, but then he shook his head. “No, I don’t, I love the bi community. They’re so great, man. I love them.”

Watari laughed. “You can hate being attracted to the guy you used to hate, though.”

“And I _do_ ,” he agreed emphatically.

 

The next day, Watari caught him stretching with Kyoutani again at the end of practice.

“Hey, Kentarou, Shigeru,” the libero greeted. He sat across from them, giving Shigeru a knowing look.

“Hey, Shinji,” Shigeru repeated.

Kyoutani just nodded his acknowledgement.

“Kentarou, how did you get so flexible?” Watari continued. “I mean, I’m alright, but you’re like, almost in full splits. Can you do the splits?”

“Uh – yeah.” Kyoutani demonstrated, and Shigeru thought he was going to die.

“Dang! That’s impressive.”

Shigeru tried to prove himself by stretching further, but Kyoutani glared at him. “What?”

The spiker shook his head and stood up. “You’ll hurt yourself like that, stupid.”

“Wha-? I know how to stretch safely, you brute!” he argued.

It was too late, though, and Kyoutani was moving his legs so he wouldn’t pull anything. “Clearly, you don’t. If you want to get to splits, you can do it assisted, but don’t fucking overextend or you’ll tear something, dumbass.”

Watari smirked and turned away so it wouldn’t draw Kyoutani’s attention. Shigeru wanted to strangle him.

“KyouKen-chan is right, Haba-chan!” Oikawa sang, sauntering over to them. “You don’t want to have a knee injury like your senpai here, right?”

“Of course not, Oikawa-san.”

“Good, good. Now, I think it was time everyone started heading home, yes?”

Once Shigeru had changed, he met Watari outside. “Ready to go home?”

Watari nodded. “So, as your Pal-entine, your platonic valentine, your bromo without the romo, your-”

“What do you want, Shinji,” Shigeru laughed. “Do I have to bring you chocolates and a teddy bear and roses?”

“ _And_ I want candy hearts, if it’s not too much to ask,” Watari teased. “No, no. I mean, yes, but no. I have a specific request.”

“Yeah?”

“Do something for Kyoutani. Bring him something. I think you’ll feel more resolved about your feelings, and then you can maybe ask him out instead of doing…whatever the fuck it was you two did today.”

Shigeru gagged. “No fucking way, Shinji.”

Watari shook his head. “Then I’m not doing anything nice for you tomorrow and you can find a new Pal-entine to platonically cuddle you. You’re on your own.”

“W-wait!” Damn Watari, playing off Shigeru’s secret neediness.

“Too easy. Alright, so you’re going to do it, right?”

He nodded. “I will bring him something.”

“And confess?”

“When the time is _right_. If that ever happens.”

Watari hummed. “Well, good enough, I suppose.”

“Why do I feel like you’re not telling me something?”

“What? Me? Your best friend? I would _never_ withhold information from you!”

Shigeru narrowed his eyes, but he let it slide. He wasn’t going to risk losing a whole day of platonic affection over a stupid fight about stupid Kyoutani.

 

When Valentine’s Day arrived, Shigeru bravely brought Kyoutani roses.

So bravely, in fact, that he dove into his classroom before anyone else arrived at school, slipped them onto his desk, and ran out at top speed. He almost threw up, but he was very proud to report back to Watari that he did _not_.

“You’re…kind of ridiculous,” Watari laughed. “Wow.”

“I have ambiguous feelings that I’ve acted on simply because of a meaningless holiday, which was on _your_ suggestion,” Shigeru reminded him. “So, uh, sorry, but shut up, I’m allowed to be ridiculous.”

“You’re not gonna start slamming him into walls again, are you?” Watari asked. “I know that was how you two kept this thing under wraps before, but I mean, isn’t it a bit past that now?”

“Sorry, but I don’t think it’s ever going to be past that,” Shigeru joked. Well, he thought he was joking, at least.

 

“I don’t know, Iwaizumi-san,” came a muffled voice in the locker room.

Ah, so the third-years would be crashing again. As if the day before and of Valentine’s hadn’t been enough. Shigeru was pretty sure Oikawa was going to start noticing things soon.

“Kyoutani-kun,” came Iwaizumi’s brisk reply, “I’m sure that whoever left the flowers anonymously is just not ready to confront those feelings.”

“Is that why you gave the flowers to Oikawa-san?”

Shigeru inhaled sharply, suddenly guilty for eavesdropping. He wasn’t sure which part was more alarming: Kyoutani going to his mentor for advice on the flowers, or the fact that Iwaizumi gave Oikawa all those gifts the previous day. Since he’d already heard this much, he pressed against the wall to continue listening.

“Yes,” Iwaizumi said finally. “But he knows, so if he’s extra insufferable today, I apologize.”

“Congratulations, senpai.”

Shigeru wondered if he imagined the tone of disappointment in Kyoutani’s voice. It wasn’t like it was a _secret_ that Iwaizumi and Oikawa had some sort of thing going on between them. Actually, it was pretty freaking obvious, if you asked Shigeru. Liking one of them – a legitimate crush, not just the petty one that everyone had on Iwaizumi – was a bad idea.

He’d learned that the hard way in his first year, when he was first taken under Oikawa’s wing as a setter. Oikawa was pretty, but it didn’t take long to learn that he was as good as taken.

Now seemed like the best time to walk in and act like he hadn’t heard anything.

“Hello, Iwaizumi-san,” he greeted. Then, he nodded stiffly at Kyoutani. Kyoutani grunted. It was just another practice.

 

The day went on without any mentions of the flowers, up until lunch. Then, the metaphorical shit hit the metaphorical fan.

Shigeru and Watari had pressed their desks together, and the setter was ready to dig into his bento, when he noticed the classroom door open. He looked up, and lo and behold, there stood Kyoutani Kentarou, holding his own lunch.

“What are you doing in here?” he asked like a normal person.

“None of your fucking business,” Kyoutani shot back angrily.

“I invited him to sit with us today,” Watari explained. “You know, because he’s my friend. Right, Kentarou?”

Kyoutani glanced at the libero, nodded sharply, then started to eat.

Shigeru could feel his eye twitching with annoyance. Watari was just trying to help, but _god_ , he was so annoying about it. He may not have helped himself by giving Kyoutani those flowers, but he wasn’t planning on confessing or anything. What were they, twelve?

No, he was just going to ignore that it happened. He was going to pretend like he didn’t care how flattered Kyoutani seemed, or how surprised. As if an attractive guy like him had never gotten any flowers be- wait. _No, not attractive. Stop that._

Besides, Kyoutani was probably expecting a girl. He was definitely _not_ expecting the guy he routinely threw fists with, right?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kyoutani snapped.

He froze. Had he been looking at him? “I didn’t mean to.” That was true. “I was lost in thought. Sometimes I just…blank out and don’t know what I’m actually looking at.” Also, technically true.

“Oh.”

He could practically _hear_ Watari rolling his eyes. “Oh, Kentarou! I heard someone gave you flowers yesterday.”

Shigeru almost punched his best friend in the face, right there and then. He should have, honestly. But he loved the guy, so he opted against it – for now.

Kyoutani started choking on his food. “Um – I – yes. That happened.”

“Do you know who?”

Kyoutani shook his head. “There wasn’t even a note. I didn’t think they were for me at first, and then I saw the card that had my name on it? Weird, right?”

“’S probably because you’re so scary looking,” Shigeru muttered without thinking.

“Huh?” Kyoutani looked over.

“I’m just _saying_ ,” he continued, “if _I_ liked you, I would be nervous to confess, because I would be pretty sure you’d punch my teeth out.”

Kyoutani snorted. “Yeah, if it was _you_ , of course I would. But I would never do that to just anyone.”

“I can’t tell if you’re flirting with me or telling me that I’d better never have a crush on you,” Shigeru joked. Then, upon further review, he wondered if there was a way to unsay any of that.

Kyoutani’s eyes widened, face reddened, and he became very interested in his food suddenly. Shigeru was contemplating saving him the trouble and just punching himself in the face.

“Obviously, the latter,” Kyoutani grumbled.

Watari grinned at Shigeru, as if that was supposed to be good news. It didn’t seem like particularly good news.

Actually, it seemed like terrible news. He regretted ever listening to his friend, and he regretted researching the colors of roses so he would know what message he was sending, and he regretted that he just accused Kyoutani of flirting with him.

They weren’t friends who jested like that. They were hardly even friends to begin with.

 

A familiar old anger found its way back into the pit of Shigeru’s stomach as he watched Kyoutani spike another ball out of bounds. He was reckless, used too much power, and let his emotions control him too much.

“If you did that in the game, you would have singlehandedly won it for the other team,” Shigeru shouted, picking up a ball. “Would you _concentrate_?”

“I am concentrating,” Kyoutani replied through gritted teeth. “Are you going to send me a toss that isn’t shitty?”

Shigeru tossed, and Kyoutani hit it in bounds this time. “Was that so hard?” he mocked.

Kyoutani spun around, eyes blazing with that same anger. “You’re such an annoying asshole, you know that, Yahaba?”

“ _I_ am?” He wasn’t sure what he was mad about, but he was _very_ angry. “You’re the asshole here!” He shoved the spiker, who shoved back.

“You ever notice that you start half our fucking fights, Yahaba?”

“Like hell I do!” He pushed Kyoutani again.

“Yeah, actually, you do!” he shouted, pushing back harder.

“You start them by pissing me off!” He grabbed Kyoutani’s shirt collar and slammed him into a wall.

Ah, familiarity.

He wondered if it made him a bad person to admit he’d missed this, just a little bit. He took a swing at Kyoutani’s face, who ducked aside and tackled him.

“I thought you two were past this!” gasped a very concerned Watari. “Shige, what did you do?”

“What did _I_ do?” he shrieked, trying to push Kyoutani off of him. “Why do you think I did something?”

“You did do something!” Kyoutani reminded him, pinning his arms down. “You angry piece of shit!”

“ _I’m_ angry?! At least I’m not always scowling! Taking out my emotions by slamming balls around and out of bounds!” He should’ve stopped, but he couldn’t. “What’s the matter? Still trying to find out what pretty girl might have a crush on your ugly ass?”

Watari made a pained sound from above them, and Kyoutani glowered down at him.

“You’re such an asshole, Shigeru,” he huffed, pushing off of him. “I hate you so much, you know that?”

“The feeling is mutual.”

He noticed everyone was starting to clean up for the day, so he started for the club room.

“What the hell was that?” Watari asked, grabbing his arm. “Seriously? Instead of telling him you have feelings for him, you start a fight?”

Shigeru couldn’t help but laugh, just a little. “I missed it.”

“You’re so fucking weird,” the libero sighed. “You’re the one who flirted with him at lunch. Like, you didn’t have to be such an idiot.”

“He started it,” Shigeru grumbled, feeling like a child for saying it.

“Yes, he did,” Watari agreed. “Why do you think you’re so stupid?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. There really wasn’t a good way to argue about that.

 

He knocked on Oikawa’s door, hoping that his senpai wouldn’t be annoying about this. Then again, that would be like asking water not to be wet, or milk bread not to taste so good, or the sun not to shine. Oikawa was always annoying.

“Haba-chan!” Oikawa sang, swinging open the door. “What is it?”

“Can – can I come in? I – well – I need your help.”

Oikawa’s smile widened. “Alright! Come on in, kouhai!”

“Thanks,” Shigeru said, following the former captain inside. He shouldn’t have been surprised to see someone else there. “Iwaizumi-san?”

The former ace smiled. “Hey, Yahaba-kun.”

“Hi. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude-” He started to turn around, but Oikawa grabbed his wrist.

“Iwa-chan is a very good listener.” The older setter led Shigeru to the couch, sat down, and forced Shigeru down at his feet. “Now, what happened?”

“It’s – well – um…”

“Is this about the team?” Iwaizumi prompted, looking down at his phone.

“Kind of?” he figured. “Uh, it’s about Kyoutani?”

“ _Oh_ ,” Oikawa sighed, patting the top of Shigeru’s head. “So, you’re either about to tell us that you’re a bottom, or that you started another fight with him.”

“I – I started another fight, obviously!” he gasped. Shigeru reached up to touch his hair. “Is it that messed up?”

“Yes,” Oikawa laughed, running fingers through it. “Don’t worry; I’ll fix it. Go on, tell us the whole story.”

“I guess it started because…yesterday…”

“Valentine’s Day!” Oikawa remembered.

“Yes.” He took a deep breath, subconsciously leaning his head back into Oikawa’s hands. It was oddly parental, but quite comforting. “I gave him flowers. Kind of. I left them on his desk, and then I bolted.”

“That was you?” Iwaizumi gasped, dropping his phone.

“He came to you?” Shigeru asked, hoping he was disguising the fact that he already knew.

“Yeah. He was worried it was some – well, okay. So, it was you.”

“Please don’t tell him,” he begged.

“I won’t.”

“I don’t know how I feel, but Watari thought it would be a good idea to do something nice for him, and I agreed. I – well – I didn’t mean to upset him. I wanted – wanted to do the opposite, really.”

“He was flattered,” Iwaizumi promised. “Like, he was actually very happy that someone was thinking of him, in his own way.”

“I _told_ you everyone likes to be doted on, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa sang, fingers still in Shigeru’s hair. “That’s why you had to be the little spoon last night.”

“W-what?” Shigeru stammered.

“Ignore him,” Iwaizumi groaned. “It was only because his big head made it impossible for me to see the movie otherwise.”

“Right…” For all he knew, this was normal for them, so he decided to look past it. “Anyways, today, Watari brought it up when the three of us ate lunch together.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Iwaizumi said, pulling a face. “That’s a low blow.”

Shigeru nodded. “And he said that he still didn’t know who it was, so I told him that it was because he was scary. That personally, if it were me, I’d be scared to tell him, because he would probably punch my teeth out.”

“That’s fair,” Oikawa hummed.

“He said he’d only do that to me, though, not just anyone.” Shigeru took a shaky breath. “So, I asked if he was flirting with me.”

Iwaizumi coughed, but Shigeru had a feeling that it was thinly veiled laugh.

“Well, he got all embarrassed. And that was the end of that.”

“So, how did that turn into a fight?” Oikawa asked, a tiny laugh escaping him as well.

“He missed all his spikes. All of them reckless. Too much power. Out of bounds. Like he was getting really emotional, and I didn’t know what his problem was. So, I asked what his problem was. The rest…is a bit of a blur.”

“What next?” Iwaizumi asked, looking like he already knew.

“I tried to punch him in the face. He knocked me down to the ground and pinned me. Watari yelled at us. And…I might have told him that he should stop looking for the girl who gave him flowers, because he’s too ugly for anyone to really like him?” The last part was said all in one breath. He knew it was bad. Really bad.

“And him?” Iwaizumi sighed.

“I think – I think I really hurt his feelings, Iwaizumi-san.”

“No shit!” Oikawa snapped, suddenly pulling Shigeru’s hair.

“Ow! Senpai!”

“No! Comfort pets are for boys who aren’t jerks to the men they love! Iwa-chan, come here! Take Haba-chan’s place!”

Shigeru stood, annoyed. “Oh, and Iwaizumi-san is _so nice_ to you.”

“He knows when to lay off,” Oikawa said, no trace of humor in his face or voice.

Iwaizumi sat down in front of him, and Oikawa wrapped his legs around him, starting to play with his hair instead. It was strangely intimate, and Shigeru didn’t believe that he hadn’t been interrupting something.

“Alright, point taken,” he whined. “What do I do?”

“Stop being an asshole,” Iwaizumi offered. “I don’t know how Kyoutani feels, but no one ever will if you insist on punching him in the face every time things get too serious.”

“I’ve never _actually_ punched him, you know,” Shigeru pointed out. “I push him into walls, and then I go to punch him, and then he tackles me.”

Oikawa rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

“What?”

“Iwa-chan did that to me in middle school all the time,” he remembered. “I think it was for the closeness.”

“No,” Iwaizumi groaned, “it was because you were bullying Kageyama, you shitty person.”

“Sure, okay. But the point is, I think that was your goal, Haba-chan.”

“Yeah, I’ve already figured out that part,” he admitted.

“Then, what do you need us for?”

“I – I don’t know! Moral support?” He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m not sure what to do.”

“You could tell him how you feel,” Iwaizumi suggested, “or at least…stop being mean to him, so he gets the message.”

Oikawa nodded. “Then, he’ll probably let you take it at your own pace.” He leaned down to kiss Iwaizumi’s head, and Shigeru shot up out of the chair.

“I think I’m going to go home, now,” he decided, “but thank you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content/Trigger Warning: there is a panic attack lightly described in this chapter. Mostly, it's getting out of it, but in case you want to be warned/would rather not read it, it's from "But once they got inside the building..." to "He laughed too, louder than he usually would have."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for that one person who recently commented asking me to come back to this fic. I will tell you this: it's written in its entirety, so you can expect weekly updates (on Thursdays) through its completion 😉

_“Love at first sight”?_

_Bull. Shit._

_Falling in love with you has been painfully slow and stupid,_

_And these roses can’t even begin to explain._

 

Kentarou wished that he had been surprised when Yahaba started pushing him around like before, but he wasn’t. He knew it would come back to this eventually. The only real reason that they’d started to play nice was the fact that the titles of Captain and Ace had been passed on to them. They both respected their mentors, so they tried. Really.

But Kentarou got those roses, purple fucking roses, and for some reason, that set everything off. Maybe Yahaba was jealous that he hadn’t gotten anything? Kentarou didn’t know, but if he knew it was going to make him so annoying, he might’ve taken one out of Iwaizumi’s book. Just to appease him.

That at least explained why they came to fists. But there was nothing that explained how Yahaba basically spat in his face for being flattered, or how he called him ugly. That was just too far, too childish.

He wondered what was wrong.

Nonetheless, Watari invited him to sit with them at lunch every day afterwards, and Kentarou obliged. Iwaizumi might have been polite, but Watari was the only person to be genuinely kind to him – well, Watari, and the stranger who left the flowers.

He sat with Yahaba and Watari every day until Watari didn’t have to ask anymore. Sometimes, the three of them went out to see a movie together (Watari always sat between them to maintain order). Most of his fights with Yahaba remained verbal, unless one of them was having a particularly bad day. Then, someone got slammed up against a wall.

Truthfully, Kentarou didn’t even mind the wall-slamming. It was therapeutic, in a way, and they always seemed to get along better afterwards. He liked _getting along_ with Yahaba. He…liked _Yahaba_ , for some reason. Admired his stupid drive in volleyball, and the way he encouraged the underclassmen, and his annoying passion.

Being a disaster gay, he found himself in the annoying position of having a crush on him. They weren’t even fucking friends. _Stupid._

But they were starting to get along better, so that was what mattered, right?

 

By the time they were in their third year, a routine had been comfortably settled into. Everything was fine…until April’s training camp, two weeks before prefects.

Kentarou hadn’t gone to any of the training camps before, due to his on-again/off-again relationship with the team. He didn’t have the luxury of quitting this time, though, because he was the ace, the vice-captain. Everyone was counting on him.

Yahaba was counting on him.

He knew that there would be a bunch of other schools there, though, and he didn’t want to think about that. It was too late. Sitting next to Yahaba on the bus, it was all he _could_ think about. No one here knew about his, erm, _anxieties_. Iwaizumi had, and he did his best to help where he could.

He relaxed at the thought of his reassuring senpai, then felt guilty for doing so. Everyone knew that he was dating Oikawa. Besides…Kentarou didn’t like Iwaizumi like that anymore. Not in a way that counted.

“You okay?” He turned to see Yahaba studying him with a look of concern. It was almost like he’d inherited Oikawa’s ability to read people.

“Yeah,” he lied, “shut up.”

And Yahaba did shut up, but he also adjusted in his seat so that his knee touched Kentarou’s. That was a newer part of their interactions: nonviolent, casual touches. He didn’t make much of it, though. Yahaba taking after Oikawa meant that he was going to be just as touchy-feely as he was perceptive and annoying.

Besides, Yahaba was always holding hands with someone – usually Watari – and Watari liked to put his arms around Kentarou’s shoulders when they were all just sitting around, chatting. He figured it was a part of having friends.

He liked having friends. Even if one of them was an annoying, perceptive, touchy-feely, attractive creampuff.

(Especially if one of them was that attractive setter who threw him up against walls sometimes.)

But once they got inside the building, his anxiety betrayed him. He could feel his heart start pounding as the echoey hallways amplified the sounds of students…

He ran.

There was one hallway that was always quiet, deemed the “anxiety hallway” where players went to breathe during a difficult time. He felt guilty for bolting on Yahaba, but he needed to get away. He needed to breathe.

He sat down, drawing in a couple shaky breaths, before someone else was there, also breathing. That did not help the panic overwhelming every fiber of his being.

“H-hello?” he called into the pitch dark.

“ _Jesus_ ,” gasped a girl’s voice from across from him, “take the wheel, ah! H-hi! I’m sorry – I – I thought I was alone!”

_Dammit, Kentarou. You just scared someone who was already having a fucking panic attack._ “S-so did I,” he explained. “I – I’m sorry. It was loud, I – I was trying to calm down.”

“Do – do you need help?” she offered.

He felt like he was going to suffocate in there. How embarrassing? The one place where he can calm himself down, and he has to get help from someone else who just happened to be a little less anxious.

“I’m okay,” he lied. _I do need help, though…_ “What – um – what would you have suggested?”

“I know some breathing exercises,” she explained. He did too, but the panic seizing him was making him forget. “Is it okay if I come closer?”

Usually, he would have said no. Said to get the fuck away from him and ran away. But her voice was so soft and reassuring, he felt more grateful than humiliated.

“Y-yeah.”

He heard her move closer. “Uh, so, you breathe in for four counts, hold for seven, and breathe out for eight. Can you do that?”

He nodded, but then remembered in the pitch black, there was no way she could see him. “Yes!”

“Would you like me to count out loud for you?” she offered, as though she knew he was too far gone to count for himself.

“Y-yes please.”

“In, two, three, four…hold, two…”

As she counted, he aligned the rhythm of his breathing to match. There was something oddly intimate about it, the way that she was sitting so close, breathing with him. He was pretty sure there was some implied contractual agreement to be best friends after this.

“Are – are you doing any better?” she asked, concern replacing her early anxious tone.

“A little.” It was the most honest he could be.

“Do you want to try grounding exercises?” she offered. “It helps you not disassociate and keeps you from spiraling? Obviously, you can’t use sight, but the other senses, you know?”

“S-sure.” He didn’t know what she meant.

“Here, can you find my hand?” He felt out in front of him until he found fingers – tiny, soft fingers. He held the tiny hand. If he didn’t hear her somewhat mature voice, he would have thought she was just a little kid from how small her hand felt. “Alright. Sorry, I know I’m probably cold, but can you think about what you feel?”

“Yeah,” he replied. Then, chuckling a little, “You are cold.”

She gave a tiny laugh. “What do you hear, other than my voice?”

He paused to listen. “The air conditioner in here?”

“Very good. What about the distant chatter and sneakers on the gym floor?”

He heard that too, but the thought of all those people started to overwhelm him. Still, “Y-yeah.”

“Do you smell anything?”

He inhaled, instantly regretting it. “Sweat.” He thought for a moment. “…and flowers?”

She laughed, close enough that he could feel her breath. That was weird. “That would be me. Ah! The flowers, not the sweat.”

He laughed too, louder than he usually would have. He had a reputation to maintain if people were going to leave him the fuck alone. This girl already knew that he was prone to panics. What was there really left to hide?

(The two would joke later in their friendship that it’s a real shame they’re both such flaming homosexuals, because that would have been a great start to a relationship.)

“Thanks,” he said finally. “Uh, I guess we can go back, if you’re okay, too?”

“I’m okay,” she assured him.

He stood, helping her up as well. He contemplated if he should let go of her hand, but the small woman seemed perfectly content to keep a hold on him. For some reason, he didn’t mind.

“Thanks,” he said again as they walked together to the light. He was going to protect this small woman with his life from here on out, he was certain.

“No problem,” she replied, looking up. “I’m Karasuno’s manager, Yachi Hito- _ah._ ”

He glanced down, confused, until he saw her wide eyes. He recognized Yachi. She always looked terrified when he saw her, and he was pretty sure that she was scared of him. His hand tensed, ready for her to drop it and run.

“Um, Kyoutani Kentarou,” he introduced himself stiffly, “Seijoh’s vice-captain…and ace.”

To his surprise, she tightened her grip on his hand and beamed up at him. “Well, this is a bit of a forbidden friendship, eh? C’mon. I’m sure Yahaba would have your ass for being late, right?”

Kyoutani cringed, thinking about the foot that was going to be knee-deep in his ass if he couldn’t explain himself coherently. “Y-yeah.”

“You good, Yacchan?” called a loud, obnoxious voice.

A familiar one, that brought a tiny grin to Kyoutani’s face.

“Kyoutani!” Tanaka gasped.

“Hi, Tanaka,” he replied.

“You found our resident lesbian! So, are you ready for our practice match later? I’m gonna beat you, you know!”

Kyoutani rolled his eyes, considering if he should hug his (mostly internet) friend. He decided against it. Instead, he pulled his hand away from Yachi’s.

“I have to get back,” he explained. “It was nice to meet you, Yachi.” He let an unspoken, _despite the circumstances_ , hang in the air. She seemed to understand, though.

“You too, Kyoutani. Oh!” She followed him when he backed up, catching him by surprise. “You wanna eat lunch with me later? I love my team, but they kinda all have their heads in their asses most of the time.”

He couldn’t fight the smile on his face; he definitely understood that feeling. “Sure.”

“Cool.”

He walked to where Yahaba awaited, arms crossed. “Where have you been, Kyoutani?”

“Breathing,” he replied.

“With that Karasuno girl who was holding your hand?” The setter’s eyes narrowed.

“Get a grip, Shigeru.” He shoved past him. “I made a friend in the panic hallway.”

“Why were you in the panic hallway?” Yahaba asked, but Kentarou kept on walking. “Kyoutani!”

 

He sat at lunch, facing the Karasuno manager. They sat awkwardly, which was to have been expected from two anxious people. Finally, she spoke.

“So, you’re Seijoh’s Mad Dog?”

“You sound unimpressed,” he observed, taking a bite of a meat bun.

“I am,” she admitted. “When I saw you on the court, you were super scary! But now, I mean, what’s with the nickname, Kyou?”

“I thought you were some innocent child, and yet the first thing you said to me was a swear, so…”

“That’s your mistake. You judged me by my looks.” She smiled. “But then, so did I. I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” After another silence, he said, “Not to be too forward, but can we be friends?”

“Dude, I just helped you out of a panic attack. Not only are we friends, we’re best friends. Ride or die. Platonic soulmates. You’re stuck with me.” She sipped some water. “Not to be too forward.”

He huffed a laugh. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

“Having anxiety is the worst, but panic attacks have turned out to be a great way to meet people!”

“Huh?” He had no clue what she meant.

“I – uh – I met my girlfriend during a panic attack. She talked me down, and the rest is history.” She shrugged. “Hey, as my new ride or die best friend for eternity, can I get your opinion on something?”

“Sure.” He withheld a chuckle at her sarcasm laced with sincerity – he wasn’t sure how much she was joking about their newfound friendship, but he didn’t care either way.

“Is it…weird if my girlfriend looks like the girl I super had a crush on last year?” Her face started to turn red.

“Not…not weird,” he offered. “However-”

“Uh-oh.”

“ _However_ ,” he continued. “Do you still like that other girl? Because then, there may be an issue.”

“Oh, uh… so, Kyou, the thing is…”

“Yacchan,” he sighed. Then, he wondered why he called her that nickname so casually. Was that weird?

“I do, but like, it’s complicated!”

“You’re going to break your girlfriend’s heart,” he admitted. “Or, you’re imagining things?”

“I’ll try to find a picture of her later, I guess.” She deflated. “But thanks for your brutal honesty.”

They continued chatting until Yahaba and Watari joined, followed shortly by Tanaka and Nishinoya. It wasn’t as natural a conversation flow anymore, but he still found himself enjoying Yachi’s company. So, when she said:

“Dinner?”

He replied:

“Okay.”

 

That night, as he laid in his cot, he was aware of the glare Yahaba was sending into his back.

“What’s your fucking problem, Shigeru?” he groaned, rolling over to face him.

Yahaba just frowned harder. “What’s up with you and Karasuno’s manager?”

“Seriously? You heard her talking about her girlfriend. Get over it; we’re friends.”

“Why were you in the panic hallway?”

Kentarou rolled back over. “I’m not doing this with you right now. If you want to throw me into a wall, you can do it in the morning.”

He should have anticipated the knee to his back. “Do you think I have no self-control?” Yahaba hissed.

He flipped onto his back to look up at him. “Do you ever just say something really stupid before realizing that it was stupid to say? I’m not into her. I’ll eventually tell you why I was in the panic hallway.”

Yahaba glared, clearly unsatisfied.

He sat up, more annoyed than defeated. “I was panicking. I don’t like big groups. She helped me. Now, we’re friends. She says best friends, ride or die, I’m never getting rid of her. I’ve accepted the fate, because it’s not the worst. Go the fuck to sleep.”

“Oh.” Yahaba looked guilty, which made Kentarou feel accomplished. “I – sorry.”

“Good, you nosy piece of shit. Now, butt out, and stop getting so jealous. I can have more friends than just you and Shinji, you know?”

“We’re friends?” Yahaba asked, surprised.

Kentarou frowned. “Well…we’re not… _not_ friends.”

“Okay.”

 

_Are we friends?_ he wondered, laying back down and struggling to fall asleep.

_Are we friends?_ he wondered, waking up to Yahaba laying closer to him than when they went to sleep, the hem of his shirt balled in the setter’s fist.

_Are we friends?_ he wondered, moving back so he was closer to him, pretending to still be asleep.

_Are we friends?_ he wondered, sitting down next to Yahaba for breakfast.

Watari was sitting on Kentarou’s other side, and he was kind of surprised the libero hadn’t forced his way in between them. After all, he was the peacekeeper. But he seemed to trust they weren’t going to brawl before caffeine, which was a fair assumption.

He couldn’t help but brighten when he saw his new friend join him at the table, along with some old friends – Tanaka and Nishinoya. He only knew those two because they made a Skype group chat for volleyball punks as a joke, but they pulled him into it, and now he had this whole friend group that he never told people about.

_Cat’s out of the bag, now._ “Hey, Ryuu. Yuu.”

“Kentarou!” they both cheered, way too excited for so early in the morning.

“Yacchan,” he added, smiling at the tiny manager.

She blinked slowly, looking up at him. “Mm? Yeah. G’morning.”

“Didn’t you sleep well last night, Yacchan?” Karasuno’s redheaded freak asked, sitting beside her.

“You kept me up with your stupid boy problems,” she groaned, stifling a yawn. “Kyou, are you gonna be another problematic best friend who whines about his boy troubles? Or can I trust you to sort out your own shit?”

He snorted at the way that Yahaba and Watari gaped at her for cursing. “I can handle my own shit. I’ll only come to you for emergencies.”

“Good.”

“Emergencies that aren’t asking if my girlfriend looks like the girl I used to like,” he added, trying to tease her, just a little.

“Boi.” She glared over at him. “That _was_ an emergency.”

“Oh, you’re finally addressing that. Thank _god_ ,” muttered Karasuno’s annoying, tall, blond blocker with the glasses.

“Kei, shut _up_.” But her eyes were bright and kind. “Tadashi, tell him to shut up.”

“Shut up, Tsukki,” mumbled a half-asleep guy sinking down next to him. He lazily pushed Glasses’ face.

“What did you say?” Glasses gasped.

Freckles – apparently Tadashi – never got a chance to answer, because the genius setter was joining them, too. It seemed like Yachi had some sort of gravity on her teammates or something. He didn’t say anything, just angrily drank from a milk box, but it shifted the energy at the table regardless.

“I slept for shit last night,” Yahaba sighed, falling against Kentarou’s shoulder.

Kentarou froze. “You – you seemed dead asleep when I woke up.”

“The hell are you talking about? I was awake before you.” Yahaba didn’t move, though. Just adjusted himself more comfortably.

“Not when I first woke up.”

Yachi sent him a questioning look, and he shook his head slightly. He would have to just tell her later.

“How come you didn’t wake me?”

Kentarou rolled his eyes. “You were _just_ complaining how you slept for shit. Besides, it was still early.”

“Oh. Okay.” Yahaba seemed satisfied with that answer and straightened back up to start eating.

Watari bumped Kentarou with his knee. Kentarou bumped back, shrugging again. He didn’t know what was up with Yahaba. He was always kind of touchy-feely in the mornings, anyways. If Watari was sitting in the middle, like usual, that was who he would’ve leaned on instead. Simple math.

_Wait, Freckles…?_ “Yamaguchi?” he asked suddenly, looking around Yahaba to see the sleepy pinch-server.

Yamaguchi’s eyes brightened just a little. “Puppy, right? Hey~.”

“You probably wouldn’t be so tired if you didn’t spam the chat with Vine compilations until ass o’clock in the morning,” Kentarou huffed, glad for yet another familiar person. This wasn’t as overwhelming as it could’ve been.

“Eh?” Yahaba looked between the two of them.

“You _love_ my Vine compilations, Kentarou,” Yamaguchi argued, reaching over Yahaba to pinch his cheek. “I sacrifice my sleep for the gooder great.”

“Greater good?” Glasses offered.

Yamaguchi snapped and pointed at him. “That.”

“Puppy?” Yahaba whispered, humor shining in his eyes. “That’s your name in some random group chat with Karasuno kids?”

“’S not just Karasuno kids,” he replied. “And it’s an inside joke.”

“Because you’re more like a puppy than a mad dog, right?” Yahaba giggled, petting his head. “A cute little puppy-”

Kentarou grabbed his wrist. “Fuck off, you fake piece of shit.”

Tanaka and Noya were both laughing, but Kentarou decided not to hold it against them, since they were clearly trying to hide it. Still, fuck those two, and fuck how they knew all his secrets. The group chat was meant to be a joke, but instead, it was a constant feelings session.

“What was that, Ryuu?” he snapped. “Oh, was that – was that Ennoshita, somewhere?”

Tanaka’s face fell immediately. “Shut up.”

“You the fuck too, bitch.”

“I surrender!”

Noya held his hands up before Kentarou could even say anything. He laughed. It was fun to interact with them in person, surprisingly.

Once everyone had a bit of food in them, they woke up and started to talk more. Finally, Yachi decided to take over conversation (she was surprisingly good at it).

“Hey, Yahaba-senpai,” she started.

Yahaba flushed red at being called “senpai” (Kentarou knew he preferred _-san_ if it had to be anything). “Yeah?”

“You’ve dated a lot of girls before, right?”

Kentarou couldn’t help but groan, which just made Watari start laughing. It had been a bit since Yahaba’s last relationship, but Kentarou still had trouble getting them out of his head. It was horrible, seeing him always bubbly. They didn’t have a single fight during the week it lasted. When it finally ended, Yahaba had punched him right in the face. Kentarou was honestly surprised it didn’t break his nose.

“Um, not – not _a lot_ ,” Yahaba countered, “but some, yes. Why?”

They continued on with the conversation of when she should start calling Sudou-san by her given name instead of “Sudou-san”, which ultimately led nowhere. Eventually, everyone turned back to their food.

“Oi, dumbass! Eat your fucking breakfast!” angry milk boy demanded.

“You’re not the boss of me!” the freak spiker replied.

“Eat!”

“Shut up!”

“Have you ever seen such a loving, supportive friendship?” Yachi snickered.

“They’ve got nothing on Iwaizumi-san and Oikawa,” Kentarou replied, laughing a little.

“Well, they’re best friends, whereas Tooru and Iwaizumi-san are boyfriends,” she pointed out. He didn’t understand how she was a person who could call Oikawa by his first name, but he didn’t ask.

“Ew,” he replied.

“You didn’t know?”

“I knew,” he assured her before repeating, “Ew.” He thought that Iwaizumi had the worst taste, and decided that he’d rather be caught dead than with _his_ setter and captain.

“You think it’s gross when anyone dates Oikawa-san,” Yahaba sighed. They’d been over this a million times.

“Because he’s _awful_.”

No one at the table seemed to disagree.

 

“Kentarou!”

He turned to see Nishinoya and Tanaka jogging towards him in the gym. “Yeah?”

“Wanna play with us?” Tanaka held up a ball.

“Uh, sure, I guess,” he agreed.

“Great! Yahaba-san! Watari-san!” Noya called. “You too!”

The setter and libero spun around.

“Us?” Watari asked. “Alright. Come on, Shige!”

Yahaba looked reluctant, and Kentarou didn’t understand why. “Um, okay.”

“Cut it out,” Watari said before Kentarou could ask. “Kentarou can have more friends than us. I think it’s good for him!”

“He didn’t _tell us_ ,” Yahaba muttered.

“God, what are you, my parents?” Kentarou scoffed.

“Since I’m the team mom,” Watari pondered, “does that make Shigeru your _daddy_ -?”

Yahaba punched him in the stomach (affectionately, Kentarou was pretty sure). “Shut _up_ , Shinji!”

Kentarou was caught between laughing at Yahaba’s expense or being embarrassed himself. When Tanaka made kissy faces at him, he decided to be embarrassed.

“Shut up.” He punched Tanaka (not affectionately). “We need one more person so you two have a setter.”

“We’ll grab Yacchan!”

Somehow, extra practice turned into teaching Karasuno’s manager how to set. It was nice to see Yahaba start to warm up to her, constantly giving her tips, walking around the net to show her up close. When she finally gave a good setup, the Seijoh trio were too proud to react in time. Watari only barely saved it.

_She’s a natural, and Yahaba isn’t being an asshole anymore. Nice._

 

“That was so cool!” Yachi squealed as they cleaned up for the night. “It was like – like _whoosh_! And Ryuu was right there to be all _pow_! Oh, amazing!”

Kyoutani laughed. “You’re pretty good.”

Yahaba looked bitter again. “Sure, she gets encouragement, but _I_ get punched when I make any mistakes.”

“She’s new,” Kyoutani pointed out. “Your messing up is usually laziness.”

Yahaba gasped. “What?”

“It’s the truth.”

He shook his head. “You two are a weird pair, you know? I mean…do you – you know? Do you… _like_ her?”

“I’m a lesbian, Carl,” Yachi interrupted, looking up at the setter.

“I don’t like her,” Kentarou agreed, “but I do love her.”

“It’s true, we’re getting married next week,” Yachi joked, grabbing his hand. “Sorry to steal your man, Shigeru.”

Yahaba choked. “You – what? He isn’t _my man_ , what the fuck, Yacchan?”

“I’m _kidding_ ,” she laughed. “This is where we part ways. Breakfast?”

“Of course.” Kentarou continued walking to the Seijoh room before he noticed Yahaba staring at him. “What now?”

“Just because she’s gay doesn’t mean you can’t like her,” he said, obviously bothered.

“No, but it does help that I’m gay too,” Kentarou said, rolling his eyes. “It’s time to sleep. Stay on your own cot this time.”

“W-what?” Yahaba laughed nervously. “I did? You’re gay? Hang on, you can’t say all of this at once, I can’t react to all of it at once.”

“Gay,” he repeated. “Me. Not exactly a fuckin secret, is it?”

“I – I guess not. Now, about the cot thing?”

“You were grippin’ my fuckin shirt like it was a safety blanket, Shigeru. Mind the gap.”

Yahaba coughed and sputtered before composing himself. “I was dreaming about you.”

“O-oh?” It was Kentarou’s turn to sputter.

“Had a dream I kicked your ass, yeah.” There was that shit-eating grin Kentarou had come to hate.

“Only in your dreams, Shige.”

“You guys do remember that I’m still here, right?” Watari interrupted. “Hello? Stop flirting, please? A little respect?”

That shut them both up.

_Are we friends?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I'm a full slut for Yachi/Kyoutani friendship, they're a big brotp for me, I love them.
> 
> If Yachi seems OOC (I'm sure she does) that's because there's a couple missing pieces to her character development that take place in _other_ related fics I'm working on, so, yeah! I think that's really all I had to touch on? I hope you enjoyed the update, and will see you next week!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How could he be the captain when he couldn’t even push his team through the most important match? He was about to blow it, all because he was underqualified, and–  
> “Stop that,” demanded a gruff voice, a heavy hand hitting his back. “You’re doing great out there, Yahaba.”  
> He wanted to reply, but Kyoutani was already getting back into position.  
> Shigeru hated to admit it, but he liked the way that number two looked on Kyoutani’s chest. His ace, his vice-captain. His second.  
> They weren’t Oikawa and Iwaizumi, but they were still one hell of a pair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yachi makes a comment about Shigeru and kissing bad boys, but it has come to my realization that that's a joke that I made in [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19204192/chapters/45654193) fic, not this one, so while that chapter hasn't been posted yet, I recommend keeping that one on your radar as well! There's a lot of chat conversations, plenty of Yachi/Kyoutani friendship, and yeah! All the fics in this series _are_ related, so there's always a little extra gem in the others!😁 It's also worth mentioning that Yachi has met Oikawa a lot more personally somewhere on the fic timeline before this chapter. They played a game of Monopoly together, it was fun. What an awful summary, sorry, enjoy the chapter😅

_They say I did my best._

_Did I?_

_Was my best so terrible_

_That I couldn’t fulfil my one responsibility?_

 

Shigeru was horribly anxious on the last day of prefects. He was proud, of course, that they’d made it to Finals. But this was a five-set match, against _Karasuno_. If they lost, it would be to their rival school, _and_ they would lose their chance at Nationals _again._

He was pretty sure he was going to throw up.

“If you get sick, I’ll beat the hell out of you,” Kyoutani huffed.

Shigeru was pretty sure that Iwaizumi once said that to Oikawa. “Sure.” He pressed closer to the spiker. “I’m nervous.”

“We all are.” Shigeru found himself pouting before he could stop it. Kyoutani turned bright red. “A-ah, don’t do that, please.”

_Cute_ , he thought bitterly. “Sorry.”

Kyoutani put a stiff arm around him. “We’re ready for today. We’ve – uh – been doing really well. Okay?”

Shigeru nodded, pressing in even closer.

“Don’t throw up on me, I swear to god,” Kyoutani muttered, but it was surprisingly gentle. “You’re a good captain, Shigeru.”

“You’re a good ace, Kentarou.”

Both of their phones buzzed, causing them to separate.

 

**Seijhoes**

**Yachi:** hey yall eat shit today cant wait to go to nationals again xx

**Yahaba:** You’re such an asshole Yachi

**Yachi:** fr though good luck guys I hope your loss is at least dignified

**Kyoutani:** oh, how kind of you, great Hitoka

**Yachi:** kisses!

**Mom:** _[cuddling.jpg]_

**Mom:** u just missed the cutest thing yacchan

**Yachi:** omg shinji you’re a blessing thank you so much they’re adorable

**Yahaba:** Oh my god don’t take pictures of us you jerk

_[Yachi saved cuddling.jpg]_

_[Kyoutani saved cuddling.jpg]_

**Yahaba:** Oh,,,my god,,,

 

“Why did you save it?” Shigeru hissed, hitting him.

“Blackmail,” Kyoutani replied, smirking.

“You’re in this picture?”

“You’re the one who fuckin snuggled up to me in the first place, Yahaba!”

Shigeru pushed him, so Kyoutani pushed back.

“Do _not_ start that on the bus!” Watari snapped. “Best behavior!”

The pair glared, but they stopped trying to start a fight.

 

The match was intense, but Yahaba was more distracted than he wanted to admit. After losing the first set, the team was losing morale, and fast.

_What do I say, what would Oikawa-san say, what do I–?_

“We’ll bring it back. You know this team. Most of their players are the same from last year, and we know how to take them. Watch the ball. You know how it goes,” he rambled. It felt like he was just echoing Oikawa, though, and he was ashamed.

How could he be the captain when he couldn’t even push his team through the most important match? He was about to blow it, all because he was underqualified, and–

“Stop that,” demanded a gruff voice, a heavy hand hitting his back. “You’re doing great out there, Yahaba.”

He wanted to reply, but Kyoutani was already getting back into position.

Shigeru hated to admit it, but he liked the way that number two looked on Kyoutani’s chest. His ace, his vice-captain. His second.

They weren’t Oikawa and Iwaizumi, but they were still one hell of a pair.

Seijoh took the second match, and they stayed alive. Just two more wins. Two more wins, and they could go to Nationals. Keep fighting, keep fighting, keep…

His head wasn’t all in the game, though. He was exhausted from playing both sets all the way through. He kept glancing back to see if Kyoutani seemed tired, but the ace just kept plowing through. Everyone else had been switched out at least at some point, but not them.

He was just going to have to find his strength in Kyoutani.

Did Oikawa ever get this tired? God, Oikawa was in the stands, wasn’t he? He was probably waiting for Shigeru to _do something_ , something that he couldn’t do, pull through, beat Karasuno, he just had to do this– had his chest always felt this tight?

It was Karasuno’s ball, and their ace, Tanaka, was serving. He wasn’t as intimidating as Kageyama or Yamaguchi in serves, but he was still pretty intense. Shigeru was eye-to-eye with Captain Ennoshita, and it felt like a personal challenge.

He wondered if Ennoshita was even half as terrified as him. Were Daichi’s shoes as difficult to fill as Oikawa’s? Harder?

“You’re doing fine.”

The words were so quiet, so muttered, that Shigeru was sure he’d imagined it. But Ennoshita nodded slightly, like it was an encouragement. Did he really look that bad, that the other team had to encourage him?

That just pissed him off.

Ennoshita went to spike the serve, so Yahaba jumped to block. Blocking wasn’t his strong suit, but he was right there for it. He thought so, at least. But his timing got jumbled, his jump wasn’t powerful, and while he _did_ stop the ball…

It was with his face.

He didn’t remember much immediately after that.

 

“You should’ve said you needed a break!” someone was chiding. “Watari can basically set, and we have a first-year setter!”

Shigeru tried to open his eyes, but the lights were blinding, and his head was pounding. “I’ma throw up,” he muttered.

“Ooh, don’t do that, Shige.” A hand was on his arm. “Breathe. You okay?”

“No…” _What happened?_

“You need to go to the nurse,” their coach said, leaning over him. He peered his eyes open finally. Everyone was looking at him, worried.

“I can take him,” offered a tiny, feminine voice. “I know I’m not _your_ manager, per se, but…”

“Thank you, Yachi-chan.”

Shigeru heard her murmur a quiet, “You’ve got this, Kentarou,” before helping him stand. “C’mon, Creampuff. Let’s get you looked at and hope it’s not a concussion.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled, stumbling as she led him out of the gym.

“Your face is for kissing bad boys, not for blocking spikes,” she teased. There wasn’t much light in her voice though. Once they were out of the gym, she turned on him. “Be careful! You just about sent me into cardiac arrest!”

“You’re always five seconds away from a heart attack,” he pointed out. “Anyways, don’t you _want_ us to lose?”

“I want it to be fair,” she said simply.

“HABA-CHAN!” cried another voice. Its volume made Shigeru’s ears ring. “Are you alright?”

“How would he know when you’ve stopped him from getting to the fucking nurse’s office, Shittykawa!”

“Don’t be so vulgar, Iwa-chan! I’m worried!”

“Can you guys…be quiet?” Shigeru begged.

“Sorry,” Iwaizumi huffed. “Need me to carry him, Yacchan?”

“You could ask me,” Shigeru grumbled before _very strong_ arms were lifting him. “I think my answer is yes.”

“Get your own boyfriend,” Oikawa said.

“Best thing to come of an injury,” Shigeru teased. “Thank you, Iwaizumi-san.”

Iwaizumi held him a little closer. “Anything to help the pain.”

“I’m _jealous_ ,” Oikawa whined.

“Oh, I’ll make it up to you,” Iwaizumi promised.

“Ew,” Yachi gagged. “Mind the innocent ears.”

“Bitch, where?” Shigeru snorted.

When they got to the nurse’s office, he went through the whole checkup process. It was painful and annoying. Not as annoying as the conclusion, though.

“You have a mild concussion,” the nurse explained. “I’m sorry, but you’ll need to rest. You won’t be able to finish out the game.”

“What?” he gasped, tears stinging his eyes. “No, no. I mean – okay, we have another setter – but he’s a first – I mean – no!”

Yachi grabbed his hand, and Oikawa kissed the top of his head.

“No, no, no…” He shook his head, ignoring the pain. “No, I can do it. I can do this. Let me back out there! Please! You have to!”

“Haba-chan,” Oikawa murmured into his hair, “you need to rest. If your team goes to Nationals, you won’t be able to support them with permanent damage.”

“Uh, hello, pot, meet fucking kettle!” Shigeru snapped, pointing at Oikawa’s knee.

Oikawa’s kindness froze into a glare. “I wouldn’t go there if I were you.”

“You _always_ overworked yourself, so if you’re going to tell me that every time we lost, it was because of-”

“That is _enough_!” Oikawa shouted. “There is a whole team out there! So, sorry, but you’re fine to sit out while they show what they can do! Get over yourself!”

“What about _you_?” he demanded. “I mean it, Oikawa! If it were you, you’d have gone out there and for the team, so don’t give me that!”

“I’d never risk the team,” Oikawa replied coolly. “You need to simmer down, Haba-chan.”

Iwaizumi placed a hand on Oikawa’s shoulder, and the former captain calmed immediately.

“I hate this,” Shigeru grunted, laying back on the bed. “Fine. Just get the hell out of here, then.”

The older two left, and only Yachi remained.

“What?” he snapped.

“Don’t be a dick, Shigeru. Rest up and get better, alright?” she said, but it was less concerned and more angry. “Why are all of Seijoh’s captains such assholes, though? Like, what the fuck? Is it a requirement or something?”

“What?”

“Hope your head feels better, Shigeru.”

 

Kyoutani came into the room, head low. “I’m sorry.”

Shigeru lifted his head, squinting against the low light. “Don’t tell me…” The tight feeling in his chest twisted again.

“Before we even hit the fifth set. I’m sorry,” he repeated, voice cracking. “They had to pull me out for a while because _apparently_ I was getting too emotional.”

“Emotional?” Shigeru echoed. His chest was tightening, and his head was pounding. He didn’t think it was just from the concussion.

“I’m sorry.” Kyoutani’s third apology broke into a sob, and he bowed to hide his face.

“I’m sorry, too,” he whispered, reaching a hand out to find Kyoutani’s. “Thank you for carrying the team.”

Kyoutani just nodded in response.

“I’m sure you did your best.” It didn’t seem to help, so he added, “We win and lose as a team. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” He twined their fingers together.

Kyoutani rested his head on Shigeru’s.

_What would Oikawa say now?_

“Sit.” Kyoutani did, and Shigeru pulled him into a tight hug. “We – we still have the spring. And even if we don’t make it, you – you were good enough.”

“How are you?” came a new voice.

“Shinji, hey. I’m – well, concussion.” He gestured at his head with the hand not holding Kyoutani’s.

“Unpopular opinion: I’m glad we lost,” Watari said bravely. “I want to win and go to Nationals with my best friend by my side.”

“Thanks, but if you ever say that again, I’ll kick you off the team,” he threatened.

“I know.” Watari sat on his other side and took his free hand.

“This sucks,” he whispered, his voice getting weak. “I’m sorry.”

And that was that. Their chances were lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl I don't feel _awesome_ about this chapter so posting it is giving me all kinds of anxiety, so um, please validate me in the comments, thanks (I feel anxious even saying _that_ , hhh)
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _yEET_

“Keep an eye on him, Kyou.” Before Kentarou could leave the building, Yachi tugged on his jacket and pulled him aside. “Concussions are some serious shit, and…well, as time goes on, he might get a little depressed. That can happen. At least, that’s what Sudou-san said-”

Kentarou nodded. “Thank you, Yachi.”

She sighed, shoulders sagging. “Ken, are you okay? Like, I’m happy we won, but I don’t want to see you all sad ’n’ stuff.”

He nodded again. “I’m doing better than Yahaba.”

“Chika-chan says to tell him he’s sorry about the ball to the face,” she said. “He feels really bad.”

“Tell Ennoshita to tell him himself.”

She reached out, offering her hands. He took them. “Kyou-kun. Take care of him. And take care of yourself. You seem very stressed about this.”

“It’s a lot all at once,” he admitted. “Thanks for…offering to take him to the nurse.”

“Of course. Though, you should probably get your own manager for the next time,” she teased. “I’ll see you, okay? Do you want to get together anytime soon?”

He nodded. “I’d like that, yes.”

“Good.” She squeezed his hands one last time before letting go. “I’ll see you, then?”

“See you, Hitoka.” He watched her go before slumping against the wall. Losing wasn’t supposed to hurt this badly. He wasn’t supposed to care this much. He wasn’t supposed to get distracted by Yahaba getting injured.

“Kyoutani-kun.” His eyes snapped up to see Iwaizumi in front of him. “You did well today. You are a fine ace.”

He bowed at the waist, squeezing his eyes shut. “Thank you, Iwaizumi-san.”

Iwaizumi placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back up. “Don’t blame yourself, and don’t let Shigeru blame himself either.”

“I – I won’t,” he promised.

To his (pleasant) surprise, the older boy pulled him into a quick but tight hug. “You did well. Don’t tell yourself otherwise.”

“I got distracted,” he said before he could stop himself.

“You handled it better than I would have,” Iwaizumi admitted, voice quiet like it was a secret. “If Oikawa went down like that in a match, I wouldn’t have let him out of my sight.”

“Well, to be fair, Oikawa is your boyfriend.”

“What is Yahaba to you?”

He looked at him, shocked. “Uh… my friend?”

“Good.” Iwaizumi huffed a tiny laugh. “Better than last year.”

Kentarou nodded his agreement before getting called over to the bus. “Sorry – I’ll see you later?”

“Yes. Get some rest. You earned it.”

 

On Monday, Yahaba wasn’t at school. Watari explained that the concussion would keep him at home for a week to be safe, just because of the severity. Then, at volleyball on Tuesday, Watari didn’t show. It was weird for Kentarou to be the only third-year there.

He knew their routine well enough to send everyone on their ways, and he knew that Yahaba liked to make notes on how everyone was doing at the beginning of the week. He tracked Kunimi’s receives and Kindaichi’s serves and a first-year’s spikes and another first-year’s tosses.

Even though he got in some of his own practice, it wasn’t much. While he understood Yahaba’s need for rest, Kentarou was angry. Angry that he’d gone down in the middle of the most important match they’d ever played, angry that he wasn’t there right now, angry that now _he_ had to give the post-loss talk.

Angry because he couldn’t seem to cheer up the team no matter what he said, and Watari wasn’t even there to interpret his brusqueness into the language of kindness.

But he wasn’t so angry to bring the notes he took to Yahaba’s house and run over them with him. It was a good excuse to check in with him, and he was pretty sure Yachi was going to start asking soon. Best not to ignore her instructions to keep an eye on him.

“Oh, hello, Kentarou-kun,” Yahaba’s mother greeted at the door. “Shinji-kun already brought Shigeru his homework for today.” She gestured to the notebook in his hands.

“I – uh – I figured as much,” he replied, “but I brought some notes from practice today?”

“Right, yes! You’re his vice-captain; I remember now. Come in, please.”

“Thank you. Please pardon the intrusion.” He toed off his shoes at the door.

“Go on upstairs. Do you know which room is his?”

“I – I think so.” He didn’t, but he figured it wouldn’t be difficult to find. He really didn’t want to deal with being shown around.

He took the steps two at a time, hoping that Yahaba didn’t get mad at him for bringing volleyball stuff to him. He didn’t know _why_ that would upset him, but sometimes the weirdest shit set him off.

Before he could knock on any doors, he heard talking come from behind one of them.

“But I _yelled_ at _Oikawa-san_.” That was Yahaba’s voice, but he – he did what?

“Shige, if anyone knows what you’re going through, it’s Oikawa-san. I’m sure that he’s forgiven you by now.” That one was Watari.

There was a sniffle, and Kentarou froze. If he saw Yahaba crying, he’d get over his concussion and kick him to the moon. Even so, he couldn’t just stand around out here like a moron. He walked to the door and went to knock, but his hand just pushed it slightly open.

Watari was laying beside Yahaba on the bed, holding him close. Kentarou almost envied Yahaba, because Watari gave the best comfort hugs. Only almost, though, because he was still concerned about how Yahaba would react when he realized Kentarou had seen him crying.

Watari noticed him lurking first. “Come on in, Kentarou.”

He pushed the door the rest of the way open. “Uh – I’m – um – sorry, please pardon the intrusion.”

“C’mere.” Watari waved him over. “What did you bring there?”

“Uh – oh, it’s – um – it’s just – I took notes at practice today – you know – so you’d know how everyone was doing,” he explained hurriedly, shoving the notebook at the two on the bed.

Watari shook Yahaba’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Yahaba muttered. “Not that I’m really allowed to read for any period of time. Or look at screens. Or talk too much. Or physically exert myself.”

Kentarou huffed a laugh. “I bet you just love that.”

“I’m suffering,” Yahaba replied, flopping onto his back, out of Watari’s arms. “I’m so fucking bored, Kyoutani.”

Watari motioned him closer again, so Kentarou sat at the foot of the bed.

“Sorry to hear,” he laughed. “It must be the universe telling you to calm your shit.”

“Oh, eat a dick,” Yahaba groaned, but it lacked its usual bite. “There’s only one person who manages to piss me off without fail.”

Kentarou put a hand to his heart and feigned a flattered look. “I feel so special.”

“Shut up,” Yahaba snickered. “What’d you take notes on?”

He shrugged. “Everything. How everyone was performing. They were doing well – all things considered. They’re determined.”

“Good. Because we’re going to Nationals this spring.” Yahaba sat up too fast and cringed. “Fuck. Headache.”

Kentarou nodded. “Lay back down, then.”

Watari reached out, grabbed Kentarou’s arm, and pulled him down to Yahaba’s other side. “Join the cuddle session, Kentarou.”

Since he didn’t have much a choice, he let himself be pulled against Yahaba so that Watari could reach his arms around both of them. Yahaba didn’t seem to mind, so Kentarou tried not to mind either. Besides, Watari gave the best comfort hugs.

 

As soon as Yahaba was well enough to return to school, he was also well enough to slam Kentarou into a wall. Under most circumstances, this would have been annoying, but Kentarou was honestly just glad he was doing so much better.

Actually, no. He was a little pissed off.

“Why are you fucking like this?” he growled, trying to pull Yahaba’s hands off his shirt collar. “We need to get ready for practice and then school. Can’t you kick my ass this afternoon or some shit?”

“Can’t a guy just fight his nemesis because he feels like it?” Yahaba replied innocently.

“I thought we were fucking friends.” Kentarou finally got enough leverage to shove Yahaba back, flipping their positions. “How’s it feel to be the one against the wall this time, you piece of shit?!”

“Like I’m glad to be back,” Yahaba said. The little shit had the _audacity_ to smirk.

Kentarou’s eye twitched, brow furrowed with annoyance. He reached up, messed up Yahaba’s perfect hair, and stepped back. “Hope you have another three hours to fix it.”

“ _Tch_ , you’re such an asshole!”

“Me? You’re the one who fucking attacked me out of nowhere!” Kentarou slammed against Yahaba at his side, making him stumble.

“Be _careful_ , Kyoutani! Don’t you know I just had a head injury? All this roughing around could cause permanent damage.” Yahaba shoved him right back.

“Shigeru, stop provoking Kentarou!” Watari called from down the hall, shaking his head at them.

“I didn’t do _anything_ , Shinji!” Yahaba protested, kicking Kentarou in the shins as he said it. “I’m a perfect angel!”

Kentarou elbowed him sharply in the sides. “Perfect angel, my ass.”

“Ow!”

“Enough,” Watari said firmly, close enough to step between them and act as a buffer. “I know you’re excited to see each other, but damn, show some restraint.”

“This _is_ us showing restraint,” Yahaba argued.

“Is it?” Kentarou asked. He wondered what the hell they were restraining from, and what would happen if they stopped. He shook his head. No, he didn’t really want to know the answer to that question.

Yahaba started stammering, and Watari started laughing, so Kentarou decided he _really_ didn’t want to know.

“Forget I asked,” he grunted, speeding up for the locker room.

 

Yahaba, having been deprived of most human contact for a week, was particularly clingy at lunch that day.

When Kentarou arrived on the roof, where they usually ate nowadays, Yahaba was curled up against Watari’s side while picking at the food in his bento. He kind of reminded Kentarou of a cat, the way he sought out attention without explicitly saying that he needed the attention. Kentarou snapped a picture.

 

**Seijhoes**

**Kyoutani:** _[clingy.jpg]_

**Yachi:** aw cute yaha-chan

**Yahaba:** Fuck you, Kentarou

**Mom:** Now you just sound desperate, shige

**Yachi:** haha ^

**Kunimi:** does this mean we can have a team nap instead of practice today because if so I am DOWN

**Kindaichi:** there’s no fucking way im cuddling up to all u freaks noah fence

**Kyoutani:** we’ll see how needy your senpai is by then, okay, Kunimi?

**Yahaba:** Oh my god there’s still so much to do so no we will not have a team cuddle and nap session

**Yachi:** I should suggest that to chika-chan honestly, that would be so fun

**Mom:** I kind of want that now

**Yahaba:** That’s what team sleepovers are for

**Kyoutani:** um, are you sure about that?

**Yahaba:** Literally how would you know you have never come to any of our sleepovers

**Mom:** (desperate™)

**Yachi:** I’m with creampuff on this one actually

**Yahaba:** And here I thought you were going to take the side against me forever

**Yachi:** lol why

**Yahaba:** Well…you know…because I…

**Yahaba:** You know?

**Yachi:** because you threw a ball at me thinking that would make me notice how cute you are?

**Yachi:** water under the bridge

**Yachi:** mostly because I want to pretend it never happened, because it was weird as fuck

**Yahaba:** Right yes sorry

**Yachi:** moooooving the fuck on outa that convo

 

Kentarou couldn’t help laughing. “Seriously? That was what you were trying to do? Flirt with her?”

“Shut up! I didn’t know she was gay at the time,” Yahaba replied, face going red.

“Yeah, but what kinda fuckin moron thinks that throwing a ball at someone is how to get them to like you?”

“The same kind of person who throws people against walls as foreplay,” Watari offered, sipping some water.

“You shut your trash mouth, Shinji!” Yahaba yelled.

Kentarou was too used to Watari’s teasing to be bothered. “No wonder you were so bothered by how easily I talked to her. You were jealous.”

“I was _not_!”

“You _so_ were!”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Watari said, biting his lip so he wouldn’t laugh.

“I can’t believe I recovered from an injury to come back to this blatant abuse,” Yahaba whined, fanning his face. “What have I ever done to deserve such mistreatment?”

“You look like Oikawa-san when you do that,” Kentarou snickered.

“Too bad you don’t look like Iwaizumi-san ever,” Yahaba shot back.

“You’re right, no one does. He’s too beautiful.” Kentarou tried to hide a smile as he started on his lunch.

“You still have that stupid puppy crush on him?”

“Yep,” he replied, popping the p. The truth was that he didn’t, but it was irritating to Yahaba, so it was fun to talk about sometimes.

“Pathetic.”

“At least I’m not slowly trying to _become him_.”

“I am _not_!” Yahaba pouted, but it only last for a second before his eyes brightened. “We should have a team sleepover this weekend – you know, to recover from the loss and remember we all still like each other.”

“That’d be fun,” Watari agreed. “Kentarou, you’ll come, won’t you?”

Kentarou froze. He wanted to say no, but he also wanted to get better at bonding with the team. He knew this wasn’t the time to turn down an opportunity just to spite Yahaba.

“Well?” Yahaba prompted. Then, getting impatient, “If you don’t agree, we’ll just have it at your house so you have no choice. Think your dad’ll mind?”

He sighed, defeated. The truth was his dad was probably going to be thrilled that he was having friends over. “No, he’ll be okay with it. Alright, yeah. Fine. Cool. Let’s do that, then.”

Yahaba beamed at him. “Great!”

“But don’t beat me up in my own house,” he added, pointing a finger at the setter’s chest. “It’s just rude, Creampuff.”

Yahaba held up his hands in surrender. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Mad Dog.”

Kentarou scowled. “You’d better not. I’ll warn my dad about you otherwise, and he’ll kick you out.”

Watari snorted. “It’s good to see you two back to normal.”

“When were – when were we not normal?” Yahaba asked.

“Probably when we all were laying on your bed acting civil,” Kentarou guessed. “But I’d never pick a fight when someone is already hurt.”

Yahaba grabbed his hand, causing him to almost scream. “Look at these knuckles. Completely undamaged. Don’t act tough; we all know you don’t get in fights.”

“I fight with you plenty.”

“Those aren’t fights.”

“It’s foreplay,” Watari agreed. Yahaba punched him in the chest. “Ah! This is assault!”

“You’re such an asshole,” Kentarou said, shaking his head and holding in a laugh.

“Hey, in that case,” Watari continued, backing up for his own safety, “Ken’s house is kind of the perfect location to throw him against a wall, don’t you think-?”

Yahaba lunged at him, but Watari was already up and diving away. “Get back here!”

“I’m a _libero_ , my reflexes are too good for this, Shige! You insult me!”

Kentarou chuckled. He never put much stock in what Watari said about the two of them, because it was usually just teasing. Still, it was interesting to see Yahaba react like that each time. Part of him wondered why.

He hoped it was for a good reason, though.

_Are we friends? Or are we-?_

Watari dove behind him for safety. “Ken-chan! Save me!”

Kentarou laughed, holding back Yahaba. “C’mon, Creampuff; lay off him. He’s just teasing you because you react.”

“Don’t make me sound like a _toddler_ ,” Watari complained.

“You’re kinda actin’ like one, Shinji,” Kentarou pointed out.

“Let me at him!” Yahaba growled, pushing at Kentarou’s wrists. His hands were firmly planted on the setter’s arms, holding him at bay. “Fuck!”

Kentarou could have held a guy of Yahaba’s stature back forever, but he usually kept that to himself. After all, Yahaba seemed to enjoy being intimidating and throwing him into walls and lockers and trees to make his points. Right then, Yahaba seemed to realize that he was usually allowed to win their fights.

“I think lunch is almost over,” Kentarou drawled.

Yahaba growled. “Dammit.”

Kentarou let go of him. “Don’t kill your best friend while I’m gone, Shigeru.”

The use of his given name left him sputtering, so Kentarou dashed for the door before he could retaliate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can pry Watari being the comforting mom friend out of my cold dead hands. I love Watari Shinji the most. So much. He's so important to me.
> 
> Tune in next week for...a team sleepover?😉
> 
> If you want to know when this or my other fics are going to be updated, here's my [July updating schedule](https://docs.google.com/document/d/17YybrlDWgymcxNa75n3d6kOjDeqG9W01OfZ216Qvv4A/edit?usp=sharing)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to imply that Yahaba eats ass but sometimes these things just happen

Friday, the day of the team sleepover, was hectic for more reasons than just the obvious.

After practice, Shigeru got a phone call from Yachi, but it turned out to actually be Ennoshita asking for them to meet up for coffee. Ennoshita explained that Tanaka and Yachi would be there, and it was okay if Shigeru brought Kyoutani and Watari if he wanted. He just wanted to talk a bit.

Sitting in the café that was somewhat in the middle of the two schools, Shigeru was pretty sure the other captain was going to apologize for the concussion. It wasn’t really the biggest deal; after all, Shigeru was the one who wasn’t paying attention. But whatever helped the other captain sleep at night, he supposed.

“You’re sure we’ll have time to set up for the team sleepover?” Watari asked.

Kyoutani nodded. “My dad’s helping us out a bit.”

“Your dad is really nice,” Watari said. “I’m gonna hug him when we get to your house; warn him.”

Kyoutani laughed. “I’m sure he’s used to that by now, Shinji.”

Shigeru felt a pang of what resembled jealousy in his chest. “You’ve – uh – you’ve been to Kyoutani’s before, Shinji?”

Watari nodded. “Sure, loads of time. For homework, sometimes just to hang. Why?”

He shrugged. “Ah – no – no reason! Just wondering.”

“We were friends before you stopped slamming him into walls,” Watari reminded him.

“He still does that,” Kyoutani grunted, taking a sip of his drink.

Shigeru frowned at the cup in Kyoutani’s hand. It was a bright pink beverage with whipped cream and sprinkles, probably too sweet to even taste anything else ever again. _Disgusting._

“Luckily, you don’t have to drink it,” he said as though reading Shigeru’s mind. “Drink your own bitter shit.”

“It is _not_ bitter,” Shigeru argued. “It’s perfectly balanced in flavors.” He took a sip and hummed in content to prove it. “Just sweet enough, just bitter enough. As coffee was _meant to be_.”

Kyoutani gagged. “No, coffee was meant to be enjoyed, which is why humans started adding things to it. So it didn’t taste like ass.”

“You’ve clearly never eaten ass if you think it tastes like coffee,” Shigeru said before realizing what was wrong with that. He frowned. “You know what, I’m not going to explain myself. I’m just stating a simple fact that coffee doesn’t taste like ass.”

Watari snorted.

“Anyways, at least I won’t go into sugar shock just from _holding_ my drink,” he added.

“I bet yours is so nasty it’s ruining your taste buds,” Kyoutani shot back.

“Is not! Try it! It’s _so_ going to be better than yours!”

“Oh, really?” Kyoutani took Shigeru’s cup and shoved his own across the table. “You try this and then you’ll understand what a real drink should taste like!”

As they both went to try the other’s drink, a familiar girl’s voice coughed, “ _Indirect kiss_.”

“Yacchan!” Kyoutani whined – oh _fuck_ , he _whined_.

“Hey, Kentarou~!” Yachi sang, leaning down to hug him around the shoulders. “Whatcha doing with each other’s coffees, exactly?”

“Proving that Yahaba’s coffee tastes like ass,” Kyoutani grumbled before taking a sip. “It’s revolting.”

Yachi took the cup from him and tried it herself before Shigeru could protest. “What? No, it’s fine. Don’t start a fight for the sake of a fight, you weirdos.”

“Thank _you_ , Yacchan,” Shigeru said, snatching his drink back. “For what it’s worth, yours didn’t _completely_ suck.”

“Yahaba-kun!”

Shigeru turned to see Ennoshita and Tanaka entering the café. “Hello, Ennoshita-kun.”

“Sorry that we’re a bit late. I was hoping to get a chance to apologize for the whole ball-to-the-face thing. Are you feeling better?”

He nodded. “Much, yes. I had to stay home for a week, but I’m as good as new now.”

“He proved it by slamming me into a wall every day this week,” Kyoutani confirmed.

“No one wants to hear about your dirty times together, Kentarou,” Tanaka chided, the second person now to hug Kyoutani.

Shigeru wasn’t jealous, though. He _could_ do that too, he just usually opted against it. It was a personal choice, honestly!

“Shut up, Ryuu,” Kyoutani replied.

“Yeah, Ryuu-chan,” Yachi sang, “give Ken-chan a break.”

“Ken-chan?” Shigeru repeated, smirking.

“Shut the fuck up, no one asked you, Yahaba.”

“ _Cute_ ,” he teased.

“Shut up!”

 

When they got to Kyoutani’s, Shigeru couldn’t help but feel surprised at how different Kyoutani looked from his father. Kyoutani-san was a man with glasses and a gentle demeanor, something that there was no way could have produced a brute like Kentarou.

“Hello, Shinji-kun,” Kyoutani-san greeted. “Good to see you again.”

“Thanks for helping us start to set up, Uncle,” Watari replied, following through with his promise to hug the man. “We got side-tracked because Karasuno’s captain had to apologize for giving Shige a concussion.”

Shigeru turned red. “He – he didn’t mean to. It was – um – it was my fault, really.”

“Kentarou told me about that,” Kyoutani-san remembered. “You must be – ah – the creampuff one?”

Shigeru glared at Kyoutani, who looked away with feigned innocence. “Yahaba Shigeru.”

“ _Right_.” A giant smile came to his face. “Nice to finally meet you, Shigeru-kun.”

“Y-yes, and you, Kyoutani-san.” He shook the man’s hand and cast Kyoutani a curious look. He still wasn’t looking at Shigeru, though.

“Thanks, Dad; I think we can take it from here,” Kyoutani said, pulling Watari and Shigeru into the next room.

“The creampuff one?” Shigeru hissed, smacking Kyoutani in the back of the head. “That’s how your father knows me? You asshole!”

“You come into his house, you slap his head, you insult his personality,” Watari sighed. “Come on, Shigeru, where are your manners? Kentarou _talks about you_.”

“Probably complains about me,” he muttered. “What do we need to do?”

“Set out the food?” Kyoutani opened the fridge. “We – um – ordered pizza. Do you think that’s going to be okay? I really don’t know how to host these things. Hitoka was walking me through most of it.”

“That’ll be fine, Kentarou,” Watari assured him, patting his shoulder. “You’re doing great! Look at all these snacks. Better than any party Oikawa-san hosted, right?”

Shigeru had to give him that. “No pressure, but I think you’re going to be hosting every part from here on out.”

Kyoutani blanched. “Um – well – it was all – I mean, Yacchan-”

“Teasing,” Shigeru clarified. “We’ll just consult her for everything now.”

He nodded. “Right. Yeah.”

“Let’s finish setting up before everyone gets here!” Watari reminded them, setting things on the counter. “Gotta be the prepared senpais!”

 

Once the team arrived and was sitting in the living room, snacking away, the boys started suggesting games to play.

“Oikawa-san always suggested Truth or Dare,” Shigeru recalled.

“It’s too early for that,” Kunimi argued. “If you’re not slap-happy with exhaustion, can you even make a good dare?”

“Luckily, you’re always exhausted!” Kindaichi laughed, ruffling his boyfriend’s hair. Kunimi sighed in what might have been annoyance, or just exhaustion.

“He’s in Class Six, what did you expect?” Watari pointed out. “We’re all so tired.”

“I hate being smart,” Kunimi sighed. “Yuutarou, switch brains with me.”

Kindaichi gasped. “Akira!”

Kyoutani snickered, and some of the first-years gaped at him. “What?”

“We’ve never really seen you laugh before, senpai,” Sato – their first-year spiker – explained. “You usually look mad.”

Kyoutani flushed red, but Watari jumped to his defense: “He’s just shy, you guys. Be patient, and you’ll get to see this beautiful grin more often. Smile, Ken.” Kyoutani tried to smile on command, and it was crooked and awkward. “See! Beautiful.”

Shigeru was eighty percent sure that he just fell in love, but he blamed it on the pizza.

“What about Never Have I Ever?” Kindaichi suggested. “I mean, it’s simple, you just gotta hold up your fingers and say if you did the thing or not.”

Everyone seemed to like that idea, so Shigeru approved it to start. “Remember, don’t target people – looking at you Shinji, because you’re mean – and if you did it, you’ve got to explain yourself. Unless we beg you not to.”

“I’ll start!” Kawamoto (setter) offered.

“Go on.”

“Never have I ever…had my first kiss?”

Shigeru withheld a laugh. First-years were still almost innocent and pure. It was cute. Most of the upperclassmen put down a finger, including Watari and excluding Kyoutani.

“Okay, this would take too long for everyone to explain,” Shigeru realized.

“Um, excuse you, but I want to know why Watari-san has had his first kiss when he’s literally not into anybody?” Kindaichi argued. “Spill the tea, senpai.”

Watari shrugged. “I didn’t know if I was just not into girls, or not into anyone. So I kissed a friend, and now we know. No big deal?”

The whole team looked at Shigeru, who looked away. “What?”

“We all know, Yahaba-san,” Kunimi sighed. “Like, who else would it be?”

He tried to stammer out an explanation, but Watari had already confirmed it, so they were moving on to Kyoutani.

“You haven’t?” Watari noticed.

Kyoutani shook his head. “I dunno if you noticed, but…” He gestured to himself. “Guys don’t usually confess to me?”

“Except the Valentine’s Day Mystery Man,” Watari pointed out. Shigeru wanted to hit him, but that would’ve been obvious.

“That was months ago, and it could’ve been a girl,” Kyoutani pointed out. “It doesn’t really matter, though, does it?”

The team seemed to agree with that, and the first-years looked a little happier after hearing him say it.

“Never have I ever played any other sports,” a first-year spiker said. No one put a finger down. “Oh. Well!”

There were a couple more boring ones, until Kindaichi came up with something that they could at least shame each other for:

“Never have I ever unironically said ‘rad’,” he declared.

A couple of first-years put down a finger, followed by Kyoutani.

“Senpai!” Kindaichi gasped. “For _shame_!”

“Do you do finger guns too?” Watari teased.

“Oh my _god_ , it’s not that bad,” Kyoutani groaned. “And…sometimes.”

Shigeru had literally never been gayer. “You’re such a nerd.”

“ _I’m_ a nerd?”

Shigeru laughed. “It’s cute.”

Kyoutani turned red. “DON’T CALL ME CUTE!”

“It’s like the fifth time this week,” Watari stage-whispered. “I’m starting to wonder about those two.”

Morita (blocker) frowned. “You – you mean-?”

Kunimi shook his head violently, and Kindaichi made an _X_ shape with his arms.

“ _Don’t do it_!”

“ _Love yourself_!”

“They’re not dating?” asked Kawamoto.

“ _HUH_?!?” They both dove away from each other.

“Where’d you get that idea?!” Shigeru gasped.

The first-years glanced around, looking quite terrified.

“Don’t look so scared!” Watari offered (team mom to the rescue). “We had the same thing happen last year when we found out Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san weren’t dating.”

“But they are now,” Kunimi offered. Shigeru hit him. “ _Ow_!”

“Let’s just move on,” Kyoutani requested gruffly.

 

“We all lead such boring lives, no one’s ever done _anything_ ,” Kindaichi cried. Everyone was down to the last five fingers, but it had been over an hour.

“Never have I ever drank a coffee drink that was bright ass pink,” Shigeru mumbled, getting too bored to think of anything else.

Kyoutani gasped. “That’s direct targeting, Yahaba!”

“What?” He pointed to the others putting down a finger. “No it wasn’t, because other people got out!”

“You were targeting me!”

“Was not!”

“In my own house!”

“No!”

“Blatant disregard for the rules!”

Shigeru tried to continue the fake argument, but he just started giggling.

“What’s funny?” Kyoutani asked through his own laugh. “Shut up.” He tousled Shigeru’s hair.

“You shut up – and don’t fuck up my hair.” Shigeru tried to push away his arms, but Kyoutani just pushed down harder on his head.

“Wait, I lost count of how many fingers they had up,” Watari realized. “Guys?”

Shigeru and Kyoutani were too busy wrestling to notice Watari trying to get their attention, though.

Finally, Kyoutani put Shigeru in a headlock and held up four fingers once more. “Never have I ever kissed a teammate.”

“Yet,” Watari whispered as he put down a finger.

Actually, only the first-years and Kyoutani _didn’t_ put down a finger, which was to be expected.

Shigeru squirmed under Kyoutani’s arm to no avail. “That was just mean.”

“I’m playing to win,” Kyoutani replied evenly, tightening his arm.

“Never have _I_ ever,” Watari called, “kissed more than one of my teammates.”

“ _Hey_ ,” Shigeru whined. “Why are you coming for me?”

Being the only one to put down a finger, Shigeru felt everyone looking at him expectantly for the story.

“Ugh. I got to kiss Oikawa-san on a dare at a sleepover last year.”

“Got to?” Kyoutani snickered. Shigeru tried not to think about his breath in his hair.

“Had to. Got to. Same difference. This isn’t fun anymore!”

“You made everything fair game when you cheated,” Watari sang. “Sorry, Shige.”

Instead of playing until someone won, the objective appeared to be until Shigeru lost. He pretended to be annoyed, but he was enjoying it as much as the rest of them. Besides, after enough laughter, Kyoutani forgot that he was supposed to have Shigeru in a headlock, so Shigeru got to lean on his chest without getting questioned.

“I brought cards!” the first-year setter announced. “So, if you guys wanted to play a card game, yaknow?”

The team liked that idea, and the setter dealt out to everyone. Shigeru laid on his back across Kyoutani’s lap.

“You’re gonna look at my cards, asshole,” Kyoutani complained, bumping Shigeru with his knee.

“No, I won’t. Promise!” Shigeru smiled earnestly.

“Oikawa used to always say that to Iwaizumi, and then he would cheat anyways,” Watari remembered.

“You cheated at Never Have I Ever,” Kunimi added.

“But I’m a better person than my mentor,” Shigeru pleaded. “It evens out.”

“Evens what out?” Kyoutani asked, glancing down at him.

“You’re a worse person than _your_ mentor!”

Kyoutani set down his cards and pinched Shigeru’s nose. “Asshole!”

“You can trust me. But can I trust you?”

“I can’t even see your cards from this angle.”

“Then, looks like we’re good to start!”

 

After a while of playing the game, Kyoutani’s father poked his head in to check on them.

“Kentarou, I’m going to be heading up to bed in a minute now,” he said. Then, seeing where Shigeru was, he smiled knowingly. “Ah – goodnight. Don’t stay up too late.”

“Goodnight, To-san,” Kyoutani said.

“Goodnight, Kyoutani-san,” the rest of them chorused.

Kyoutani-san chuckled before heading upstairs.

Shigeru looked up at Kyoutani. “You’ve told your dad about me.” He wasn’t as annoyed about being the “creampuff one” anymore.

“Yeah, about how much you annoy me.”

“That why he smiled at me like that?”

“Shut up.”

“I think you tell him nice things, too,” he teased, reaching up to pinch Kyoutani’s cheek. “Cute.”

“The only good thing I’ve ever said about you is that you’re a goody two-shoes who spends too much time perfecting his hair. Even if they’re ‘nice’, you know that isn’t how I mean it.”

“Mhm. Sure. I even believe you.”

“Get a room, or stop flirting,” Kindaichi begged.

That shut them both up quickly, and they resumed the game.

 

When the card game ended, the first-years fell asleep pretty quickly, leaving only the upperclassmen. Shigeru had little intention of moving from Kyoutani’s arms if he could at all help it.

“Kids are asleep,” Watari said with a smile. “They’re all way too angelic for this team.”

Kindaichi snorted and Kunimi nodded in agreement.

“Now, the grown-ups can play the fun games,” Kindaichi said. “For example: fuck, marry, kill.”

“I think they would’ve died if we suggested it to them,” Shigeru realized, laughing. “Seriously, how did they get accepted here?”

“I would die for the first-years,” Kindaichi admitted.

“You will,” Kunimi promised.

“Simple start: Yuutarou, between the third years,” Kunimi started.

Kindaichi frowned at the three of them. “Well, I think…I’d fuck Yahaba-san?”

“Thanks,” Shigeru snorted.

“ _M_ arry…Watari-san, I guess, but I don’t know?” His eyes widened. “I’m not saying that I want to kill you, Kyoutani-senpai-!”

“I’d rather you _kill_ me than the other two,” Kyoutani pointed out.

They bounced back and forth until it got boring – which honestly came quite fast.

“Mm…Kentarou,” Watari said, “an alien, Godzilla, and Glasses from Karasuno.” _I think he means Tsukishima Kei._

“I would kill Glasses,” Kyoutani said without hesitation, “and marry Godzilla.”

“Cause of Iwaizumi-san,” Shigeru said through a fake cough.

“And I guess I’d fuck an alien?”

“What are you, Oikawa-san?” Kunimi laughed.

“What?” Kyoutani frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“He has an alien obsession,” Shigeru explained. “Why in god’s name would you fuck an alien?”

“Are you gonna tell me you wouldn’t?”

“Hell no!”

“Not even curious?”

“You are _repulsive_ , Kentarou, what the fuck?”

“And yet you’ve been invading all of my personal space for the past three hours, huh. Must not be repulsive enough.”

“Well, I’m not moving, but it’s because I’m comfy.” Shigeru shifted into a better position to make a point.

“I should throw you out a window.”

“You wouldn’t,” he sang.

“We should go to sleep, though,” Watari interrupted, “if we’re going to be even a little alive in the morning.”

“Yes, mother,” Kindaichi laughed.

The other three started to grab their blankets, but Shigeru couldn’t find it in him to move. He was comfortable, and there was a little piece of him that shamelessly wanted to milk the situation for all its worth.

Kyoutani leaned down closer to Shigeru’s ear. “You gonna move?”

“I don’t really want to move much, if that’s okay.”

“A’right.”

“Wait, really?”

Kyoutani sighed, sliding Shigeru off his lap and pulling a blanket over them both. “You’re kind of needy; I’m used to it being towards Watari, but this is fine, too.”

“Jokes on you,” Shigeru decided, “because I’m feeling extra needy tonight.”

He reached out and grabbed the back of Watari’s shirt, pulling him backwards.

“Huh?” Watari turned to look. “Oh. It’s everyone-cuddle-Shigeru time. Alright.” He took his place on Shigeru’s other side.

With his best friend on one side, and the guy he definitely kind of liked on the other, Shigeru fell asleep quickly and cozily. Watari was snoring in moments, and he was vaguely aware of how Kyoutani pulled him closer.

 

In the morning, Watari was further from Shigeru, laying on his back. Kyoutani, however, had basically engulfed Shigeru in his arms. At first, Shigeru didn’t make much of waking in a tangle of limbs. After all, he was kind of needy sometimes and Watari was a Solid Pal who cuddled with him when he really needed it. But when he opened an eye, he remembered how he’d fallen asleep.

He almost jumped out of Kyoutani’s embrace, except he was far too tangled up to do that. Instead, he nudged Kyoutani with his head.

“Eh? Shigeru?” he mumbled sleepily before nuzzling into Shigeru’s hair.

_God, he’s so cute when he’s sleepy. He’s going to kill me when he wakes up._

“K-Kentarou. You should probably wake up, or you’re going to get embarrassed and deck me.” He hated that he had to say it, because he _really_ wanted Kyoutani to keep cuddling him.

“Mm?”

“Kyoutani.”

Kyoutani just tightened his arms and made a tired sound of protest.

“Okay…don’t fight me when you wake up, then.”

Finally, Kyoutani opened one eye and looked down at him. “I remember how I fell asleep, Shigeru.”

Shigeru’s eyes flew wide open, and then he shut them tight and pressed even closer to Kyoutani. In the case this was some fluke of sleep, he wasn’t going to leave the moment without memorizing how it felt.

“You’re so fucking needy.”

He opened his eyes again. “Hey! I didn’t ask you to become a human pretzel with me, so maybe _you’re_ the needy one.”

“I mean, I definitely am, but you’re the one who wouldn’ get the fuck off me last night.”

“Uh, Yahaba-san, Kyoutani-senpai?” They both tensed before looking up at the very confused first-year standing over them. “Are you sure you’re not dating?”

“He’s just needy,” Kyoutani replied vaguely.

Though he hated to have the conversation right then, Shigeru nodded. “I like to cuddle my friends.”

“We’re not even friends,” Kyoutani scoffed.

“Then how come your hand’s on my ass.”

“It is _not_ ; get the fuck off me, Yahaba!” Kyoutani shoved Shigeru away, sending him rolling onto Watari.

“ _Eh_?” Watari sat up, looking down at Shigeru in confusion. “What did I miss?”

“ _So_ much,” Kunimi replied lazily.

“I have pictures and video though,” Kindaichi promised, “so you can see it in the group chat. Yacchan is already screaming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breaking the touch barrier through a headlock-turned-cuddling is pretty much exactly what I wanted with these two so I hope you did too. You're welcome. It's also worth noting that Kyoutani-san has been on the receiving end of multiple "he's so pretty it's fucking disgusting why do I like him I have such bad taste" rants from Kentarou and I thought you should know
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tall order of friendship with a side of gay?

**Seijhoes**

**Yachi:** oh my god

**Yachi:** oh my GOD

**Yachi:** oh my fuccking GOD KYOUTANI KENTAROU

**Kyoutani:** hey, Yacchan, how was your team’s karaoke night?

**Yachi:** OH SHUT UP YOU CAN LOOK AT THE OTHER GC FOR INFO RYUU-CHAN WILL FILL YOU IN

**Kyoutani:** ugh

**Yahaba:** Why are you freaking out I’m just a snuggly person

**Mom:** it’s true, I’ve woken up with him in much more compromising positions than that

**Kindaichi:** kINKY

**Kunimi:** u can’t kinkshame anyone Yuutarou u nasty shit

**Kindaichi:** D:

**Yachi:** shut up akira we all know you like it

**Kunimi:** ouch what did I do to deserve this

**Yachi:** yuuta-chan tells me stuff <3

**Kindaichi:** <3

**Kunimi:** here I thought we were friends

**Yachi:** we are

**Kunimi:** well it doesn’t feel like it

**Yachi:** im coming for everyone equally

**Yachi:** equal opportunity roasting

**Yachi:** creampuff-san you’re next bitch if you don’t get off my husband

**Yahaba:** He’s already flung me away from him

**Yahaba:** Eternally loyal to his betrothed

**Yachi:** aw ken-chan <3

**Kyoutani:** yacchan <3

**Mom:** ew

**Mom:** the allos are back at it again

**Yachi:** sorry ma

**Mom:** forgiven

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Puppy:** I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you

**Yachi:** WHATD I DOOOO

**Senpai:** WAIT STOP ITS DADDY’S TURN TO TALK RIGHT NOW

**Puppy:** I would pay you any sum if it meant you would never refer to yourself as daddy ever again.

**Freckles:** im gagging

**Guardian:** bro I love u and u kno im super mega pumped for u but,,bro

**Senpai:** CHIKARAAAAAA

**Senpai:** mmmmmMMMMMMMMKISSED ME

**Puppy:** oh shit man congrats

**Yachi:** IT WAS SO CUTE I HAVE VIDEOS

**Puppy:** wtf

**Yachi:** im not a pervert they were doing karaoke that’s the video omg wow whoops too excited gotta chill

**Yachi:** OOH AND WE DID A DUET<3

**Senpai:** our voices r perfect 2gether<3

**Puppy:** I love this but I GOT BEEF W MY WIFE SO IF U DON’T MIND

**Ace:** u rang? ;)

**Puppy:** not you, yamamoto

**Freckles:** mmeeeeee<3 :*

**Puppy:** no tadashi

**Yachi:** im appalled how many wives do you have you slut

**Puppy:** YOU’RE DRAGGING ME IN THE SEIJOH CHAT

**Yachi:** mmmm am I tho

**Puppy:** you’re making fun of the cuddling and it was the best thing that’s ever happened and I gotta scream you gotta fuckin LET ME

**Senpai:** CUDDLING

**Puppy:** yes, tanaka, shige fell asleep on me last night

**Senpai:** oh my god

**Guardian:** oh my god

**Ace:** oh my god

**Freckles:** how, did u all send that, at the sme, tiem,

**Yachi:** tiem

**Ace:** tiem

**Guardian:** tiem

**Senpai:** this is sme erasure

**Freckles:** oh my god

**Puppy:** the chucklefucks filmed and photographed it for evidence but now what

**Yachi:** are you, still, not together

**Puppy:** no he really is just needy

**Yachi:** oh shit:(

**Puppy:** yeah

**Yachi:** sorry my guy you need to talk

**Puppy:** wanna go out for like lunch or smth if you’re not busy

**Senpai:** do u want us too man

**Guardian:** well come

**Freckles:** right away!

**Puppy:** no just yacchan and yama please

**Puppy:** ik Ryuu has to make out with his new boyfriend and Noya spends the weekends with Asahi

**Senpai:** stay strong buddy

**Guardian:** ily man

 

After the team left, Kentarou noticed his father leaning against the kitchen doorway, watching him clean up.

“I thought you said that Shigeru-kun hates you,” he finally said, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

Kentarou grunted, shoving another paper plate into the bin. “I might have…exaggerated.”

“So, why haven’t you told him how you feel?”

“ _To-san_ ,” he gasped, instinctively looking to check that Yahaba really was gone.

“Well, you don’t usually cuddle up on the chest on someone you don’t like.”

“Sure,” Kentarou agreed, “but he’s like that with his friends. I think he inherited it from our awful senpai.”

“Ah, Tooru-kun, right?”

“That’s the bitch.”

“Kentarou, language.”

“Sorry,” he muttered. “But yes, that one.” He sighed, putting the last of the leftovers in the fridge. “Can I go see Yamaguchi today? She and Yacchan want to help with everything that’s been going on.”

“Have you done your homework for Monday?”

His face felt warm. “Uh – I might have – I might have gotten excited and – and done it all in homeroom.”

His father laughed. “Well, then, I guess there’s no reason you can’t. Have fun.”

“I probably won’t, but thanks.”

 

“WE GOT HERE AS SOON AS WE COULD!” Yamaguchi cried, launching herself across the McDonalds parking lot and into Kentarou’s unsuspecting arms. “YOU POOR SWEET THING! ARE YOU OKAY?”

“Fuck, Tadashi,” Kentarou grunted, trying not to fall over. “I’m fine.”

His father crossed his arms and shook his head, laughing. “Hello, Yamaguchi-chan.”

“Kyoutani-san!” she gasped, jumping back from Kentarou to bow. “Hi!”

“Tadashi, you little shit, the fuck did you go running off to- _oh no_.” Yachi slapped her hand over her mouth upon seeing Kentarou’s father. He snorted, looking at his dad again.

“Yacchan, I presume?” he guessed, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“Yes, sir. Oh, I am so sorry, sir.” She bowed, face red as she continued to spew apologies.

“I’m sure that my son has been a terrible influence on you,” Kyoutani-san chuckled.

“She came to me this way, Dad,” Kentarou argued. “I think Ryuu and Yuu did it to her, though.”

“Probs Tsukki,” Yamaguchi countered. “I love him, but-”

“We _know_ ,” Kentarou interrupted, winking at her.

“Okay, Mr. I-woke-up-holding-the-love-of-my-life,” Yamaguchi replied, waving her arms as she spoke. “Least I don’t start a brawl every time he does something cute.”

“Neither do I,” Kentarou whined, glancing back at his dad. “I – I swear only Yahaba does that.”

“ _Tch_. Sounds fake,” Yachi commented.

“I’ll leave you kids alone, then,” Kyoutani-san decided (probably against his better judgment).

The three of them headed inside to order, then found a table.

“Tell us everything!” Yamaguchi cheered, stuffing a fry in her mouth. “Every detail!”

Kentarou wasn’t in much of a sharing mood. “Did you sing with Sudou-san, Hitoka?”

She rolled her eyes. “ _Yes_ , I did. We did a duet to _Feelings_ by Hayley Kiyoko. It was super cute. Gotta love our lesbian asses. No – lesbian and bisexual. Anyways, tell us about-”

“What about your duet with Ryuu?” he prompted.

Yachi scowled. “We sang _Girls/Girls/Boys_. It was great. He’s like, a natural performer. The punk squad really should go have a karaoke night sometime. How. Was. Your. Night.”

“Did you sing, Yama-chan?”

Yamaguchi’s eye twitched. “Nope. Please, for the love of god, Ken-chan, or I’m going to fight you.”

“I love you but we all know that nobody here is a fighter,” Kentarou argued.

Yachi punched him in the stomach. “Think again, _bitch_!” It actually fucking hurt, too.

“God, Hitoka!”

“Tell us,” Yamaguchi whined.

Kentarou huffed. “Well, it started because we were wrestling.”

“Should’ve guessed,” Yachi groaned. “What else?”

“I put him in a headlock, but then he stopped squirming and so I forgot that I was like, being aggressive. So we just kinda…I dunno!” He waved his arms. “Guess we cuddled or some shit while we kept playing games with the fuckin team?”

“That’s so – I’m sorry, and he’s just clingy?” Yamaguchi verified.

He nodded. “Well, when we were getting ready for bed, I told him to get off of me. He asked if he could just…not do that, and so I told him it was fine.”

Yachi took a drink of her soda like it was supposed to hide her smile. “Ah, Ken.”

“I dunno, okay!” He angrily took a bite of his chicken nuggets. “I’m so gay.”

“Dude, me too,” Yachi agreed. “Listen. You have _got_ to talk to him. Either set some boundaries, confess, or you’re going to be just miserably his cuddle buddy. Like a fuck buddy but less physical.”

“And yet, more intimate,” Yamaguchi added. “I mean, sex is sex, but cuddling is, _you know_?”

Kentarou felt like dying. “God, don’t say that. Please, tell me how your night was?”

“Well, I have weird news,” Yamaguchi stated. “I think Shou-chan definitely might like me.”

“Freaky number ten?” Kentarou clarified. When she nodded, he shrugged. “Well, he’s got good taste at least. How’re ya gonna let him down easy?”

She shrugged. “I feel bad. I like him a lot, and he’s super cute, but he’s not…my type?”

“Right, your type is salty blond boys with a personality as warm as the ocean in the middle of winter,” Yachi snorted.

“Tsukki is nicer than he lets on,” she whined. “I swear!”

“I dunno,” Kentarou sighed. “I know you know him best, but like…he’s kind of a total asshole. You always have to make excuses for him.”

She rolled her eyes. “He puts up a front to keep people out. It doesn’t affect me, because he’s already let me in.”

“He…can be nice,” Yachi quietly confirmed. “Technically, I shouldn’t say it, but…he helped me through a lot of panic attacks. He uses music as a distraction for me, and it’s really helped a lot.”

Kentarou blinked, processing. Who knew that smug asshat actually had a compassionate side? Well, Tadashi, technically, but he took her words with a grain of salt where Tsukki was concerned.

“He really is nice,” Yamaguchi insisted. “We met when he defended me from some bullies. Well, I think so. I’m like, pretty sure? Anyways.”

“Poor Shou-chan,” Yachi sighed. “I was really hoping he’d come to his senses about Kageyama by now.”

“That’s your genius setter, right?” Kentarou asked.

Yachi nodded. “Those two are of one mind, I swear. They’re so linked, you know?”

“Oikawa-san says that Kageyama is wrapped around Shouyou’s finger,” he remembered. “That he could say anything and Tobio would go with it.”

“They’re a good team,” Yachi said simply. “We’re really supposed to talk about you.”

“What about how Kiyoko-san cut her hair?” he asked, dodging it again.

She whimpered and hit her face to the table. “I literally _cannot_ , she looked so good last week! I so couldn’t say anything, though!”

“See, if anyone’s the mess here, it’s Yacchan,” Yamaguchi noted, nudging her. “I mean, dude. You like two people, but not in a polyamorous way so much as, you haven’t made up your mind.”

“But Sudou-san and I have an open dialogue about it!” Yachi insisted.

“She makes a fair point,” Kentarou said. “I mean, it’d be different if Sudou-san thought it was a one-hundred percent commitment. But, if they’re both aware that there’s some lingering feelings, I think it’s okay.”

“Thank you! Besides,” she continued, “Sudou-san still has some residual feelings for Yui-senpai.”

“Ugh, Yui-san is _so_ cute,” Yamaguchi cried. “I can’t believe Dai-san never noticed how in love with him she was. I would die if a girl that cute liked me that much.”

“I heard she started seeing someone,” Yachi said, lowering her voice. “Misaki Hana, Johzenji’s old manager.”

“What?” Yamaguchi gasped. “That’s so fucking cool!”

“We stan more queer women in our lives,” Yachi agreed. “Blessed. My crops are thriving. My skin is clear. My depression is cured.”

Kentarou started to agree, when someone caught his eye. “Do we know him?” he asked, nodding at the guy who just walked in. Objectively, he was kind of nice looking. Kentarou swore he’d seen him somewhere before.

“Hmm.” Yamaguchi whipped around to look.

“Fuck, Tada-chan, be subtle,” he groaned.

“That’s Dateko’s captain, Futakuchi Kenji,” Yachi stated. “Why? You wanna talk to him?”

“No,” Kentarou muttered. “Just thought he looked familiar.”

“Kinda looks like Shigeru, minus the stick up his ass,” she noted. “You sure you don’t want to say hi? Karasuno is on good terms with Dateko~.”

“He does _not_ ,” he insisted, feeling his face get hot. “Jeez, I wasn’t checking him out.”

“He’s cute,” Yamaguchi pondered. “Almost my type, but not quite…”

“Might get your mind off of things if you say hello,” Yachi prompted. “I have spoken to him before, so I’m not scared of him…”

“Don’t you fucking _dare_ , Hitoka, or I swear to god, I will call Oikawa and tell him about your situation with Kiyoko, and then he will _meddle_.”

She paled. “You wouldn’t.”

“Bitch I might.”

“Shit.” Yamaguchi turned back to them, her face red. “I made eye contact, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sor–”

“Hey, Yachi-chan, Yamaguchi-kun. Fancy running into you here,” Futakuchi said, tilting his head curiously. “Ah, I’m sorry, I don’t know if I know you?”

Kentarou felt like he was melting into the chair. “Kyoutani Kentarou, vice-captain and ace at Aoba Johsai.”

“Wanna join us?” Yachi blurted out.

_I’m going to die, this is the end for me, ahhhhh_.

“Sure.” So, he did.

“Hey, so, rematch in the fall?” Yamaguchi prompted. “Or, did you third-years retire?”

“I’m not ready to retire yet,” he assured her. “Gotta put you crows in your place.”

Yachi snorted. “Yeah, good luck.”

“Wait!” Futakuchi looked closer at Kentarou. “Yeah! I remember playing you last year. You’re Seijoh’s Mad Dog, right?”

“Please don’t call me that,” he mumbled, staring at his fries.

“Ken-chan is an anxious child,” Yachi stage-whispered.

Futakuchi nodded knowingly. “Players are a whole different personality off the court, it’s wild.”

“Like Aone-san,” Yachi remembered. “Shou-chan says he’s the nicest guy on the planet?”

Futakuchi laughed. “Yeah, that’s an accurate assessment. He’s a real sweetheart, despite how terrifying he looks.”

“That’s like, a recurring theme with volleyball players,” Yamaguchi noted. “Looks can be deceiving.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, smiling.

“For example, Yachi looks like a sweet child, but she’s a hellion,” Kentarou muttered.

Yachi gasped. “I cannot believe – to your own wife – the apple of your fucking eye – you talk to me like this?”

He snorted. “Yeah, you’re a real goddamn ray of sunshine.”

“Till death do us fucking part, Ken-chan.”

Futakuchi laughed in confusion. “Ah, okay, definitely didn’t take Yachi as…someone who ever swore?”

She threw up a peace sign. “Ye.”

“Gay-lesbian solidarity,” Kentarou said before he processed that he just outed the whole table. “Uh – I mean –”

Futakuchi waved a hand dismissively. “I came to the right table, then.”

“Hmm…” Yachi glanced at Ken. “I’m not an admin.”

“What, you think because I’m one of the first three, that means I can?” Kentarou growled. But she was right. He was totally able to add people to the Skype chat.

“Ken- _chan_ ~.” She looked at him expectantly.

“Ah, fuck it.” He turned to Futakuchi. “Um – okay, so – like, there’s this group chat – um – on Skype – and you see – okay, so – uh…”

“He’s asking for your Skype so we can assimilate you into our friend group.” Yamaguchi grinned. “I think you’ll fit right in, personally.”

“Oh, yeah, sure! Came for food, left with friends, nice.”

 

Somehow, the outing took them to a nearby park. Kentarou wasn’t complaining.

“Dude, you gotta talk to Shigeru,” Yachi said as they walked. “Like, you know I love you and I hate to share you, but dude.”

Kentarou shook his head. “I like it how it is!”

“Lies,” Yamaguchi hissed.

“What is going on?” Futakuchi asked.

“He’s in love with–” Yachi started, but Kentarou clamped a hand over her mouth. She licked him.

“Ew! Fuck, Yacchan!”

She smiled sweetly. “Yahaba-san. Aces and captains, am I right?”

Futakuchi blinked as though she had just said the most profound statement in the world. “Ah – well, I don’t know you, or your situation.”

“True,” Kentarou agreed.

“However, if you like the guy, shouldn’t you…tell him?”

His face fell. “It’s complicated.”

“How so?”

“We hate each other,” he explained, waving off Yachi as she shook her head in disagreement. “He routinely throws me against walls.”

“So…why do you like him?”

“Probably cause he’s so fucking pretty,” Yamaguchi guessed. When Kentarou shot her a look, she shrugged. “What? He _is_.”

Yachi wrinkled her nose. “Whatever floats your boats.”

“What?” Kentarou turned to her. “You’re going to tell me he’s not, objectively, attractive?”

“I dunno, when I think of attractiveness as it pertains to guys, I’m seeing more like…Iwaizumi-san, Bokuto-san, Ryuu-chan, Asahi-san, you know?”

He nodded. “That’s fair.”

Futakuchi just looked more confused. “Okay, so, is there a reason you like him other than that?”

Kentarou rolled his eyes. He hated explaining this. “I just _do_. He’s like, fuckin, passionate about shit. And smart or something, even if he’s also kind of a moron.”

“Only with emotional stuff,” Yachi interjected. “He has no idea how to express a romantic sentiment. Once, he threw a volleyball in my direction to get my attention.”

“Yikes,” Futakuchi snorted. “He sounds like a disaster.”

“He _is_ ,” Kentarou agreed, “but…he’s also…like…” He gestured vaguely with his hands. “You know?”

“I think I do,” Futakuchi admitted. “Like, there’s no words, but when you’re alone together, or you’re interacting on the court, you just _know_.”

Yachi raised an eyebrow. “How _specific_ , Kenji-chan.”

The Dateko captain flushed. “Ah. No, not what you think.”

“I’d never suggest anything that you seem to think I’d suggest.”

“Well, you can always confide in us in the GC,” Yamaguchi offered. “It’s what we’re there for, and you just might come to appreciate the sudden friendship!”

“All because I thought you looked like Shige, minus the stick up his ass,” Yachi laughed.

“What?” Futakuchi asked, biting back a snicker.

“Nothing, ignore her, god, please ignore her,” he begged.

“I can’t be the only one who sees this!” she pleaded. “Tada-chan! You do, right?”

Yamaguchi sized him up, then nodded. “I see it. Ken’s just being a little shit.”

“Forgive me for being offended that you were trying to set me up with a random guy in McDonalds, Yacchan.”

“You’re forgiven!” she said sweetly, linking their arms. “Ah, the group continues to grow. I wonder if anyone else will be joining…we’ve gotta have a full group outing sometime.”

“We really do,” Kentarou agreed. “That would be fun.”

“We should do karaoke!” Yamaguchi gasped, jumping up and down. “Last night was _so_ much fun! Oh, it’d be awesome! Ken, can you sing?!”

He shook his head. “No, god no, you’d have to drug me to get me on a stage.”

“That can be arranged,” Yachi said, far too seriously.

“She’s scary,” Futakuchi noted. “Why is she terrifying?”

“Her levels of evil are unusually high for someone her size,” Yamaguchi explained. “It’s wild. I love it.”

Yachi laughed. “I learned from the best, Yama-chan.”

Yamaguchi nodded, and they both said, “Tsukki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY KIDDOS. SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES BUT I WILL BE POSTING TODAY, TOMORROW, AND SUNDAY, I PROMISE<3 I fell a little behind schedule due to ye ole depression/anxiety/intrusive thoughts and have been using Twitter and Bungo Stray Dogs to distract myself which hasn't been helping but I saw my psychiatrist yesterday and am seeing my therapist on Tuesday so we should be up and running as planned soon! I will still be updating all 8 fics though, don't worry! Love you all, please remember to take care of yourselves! <3 <3
> 
> Also! I adjusted my [July updating schedule](https://docs.google.com/document/d/17YybrlDWgymcxNa75n3d6kOjDeqG9W01OfZ216Qvv4A/edit?usp=sharing) to include some specials for Shittykawa's birthday and TsukkiYama week! So! Look forward to fluff and cavities!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shigeru faces his feelings and Kentarou sets his boundaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeet for progress
> 
> anyways I'm real soft for this chapter so I hope you like it! sometimes you just gotta ease into your feelings when you're emotionally constipated as fuck and that's just what our boys are doing

“I’m just saying, he and Dateko’s captain look like they’re out on a date.” Shigeru turned his phone to Watari pointedly. “They’re sharing a sundae! That’s like, super date-y!”

“Yacchan is there too,” Watari argued. “So, it’s probably not a date.”

“He kinda looks like me but with straight hair and lidded eyes,” Shigeru continued. “Maybe he has a type – like Yacchan and her girlfriend and Kiyoko-san?”

Watari smacked him in the head. “Get it together, Shigeru!”

“Ow! Shinji!”

“God, I need motherly reinforcements. I’m calling Ennoshita. He gave off mom vibes yesterday.”

“No, I don’t need you to–”

It was too late. Watari’s phone was out, and Ennoshita Chikara was on his way.

“I fucking hate you, Shinji.”

Watari kissed his cheek. “That’s a lie, Shigeru.”

 

Two hours and much whining later, Shigeru and Watari met up with Ennoshita at the local playground. It gave a more carefree feel to something that was deeply troubling him, at least.

When Ennoshita arrived, his hair was a little messy and his clothes a bit disheveled. Shigeru hoped they hadn’t woken him up rudely; he knew that Karasuno had done a karaoke night before. But then, he noticed red marks on Ennoshita’s neck, and he worried that they interrupted…something else.

“Hey,” the Karasuno captain greeted, smiling kindly. “What’s the emergency, Watari-kun?”

“Shigeru here thinks that Kentarou is on a date with Dateko’s captain and he’s kind of losing his mind about it,” Watari explained, hand over Shigeru’s mouth so he couldn’t object. “Sorry, it looks like we interrupted a pleasant afternoon for you?”

Ennoshita’s hand went to his neck, and he blushed. “Ah – I was – no, it’s just – um! He didn’t mind. All good.”

Watari snorted. “Tanaka-kun?”

He flushed red. “Is it that obvious?”

The libero nodded, and even Shigeru had to agree there.

“Okay. Well, what is it about Futakuchi and Kyoutani that bugs you, Yahaba-kun?” Ennoshita pressed.

“He likes Kentarou,” Watari said.

Shigeru licked Watari’s hand so he could finally speak.

“Yuck, c’mon, Shige,” he grumbled, wiping his hand on his pants.

“Oh, shut up, I’ve put my tongue in your mouth, deal with it,” Shigeru snapped. “I don’t _like_ Kyoutani, okay.”

“Okay,” Ennoshita said. “Wait, hang on, why have you two–? No. Hang on. Never mind.”

“It’s a really long story,” Watari said.

“Yeah, I really don’t want to know,” he sighed. “Okay, so if you don’t like him, then what is the problem?”

“Well…” Shigeru frowned, trying to think. What was the problem? How could he get out of admitting to the guy who gave him a concussion that he was in love with a guy he used to hate? _Dammit._ “I like him?”

Ennoshita just smiled the most understanding smile he’d ever seen, which made it very challenging to dislike him at all. “It sucks to admit it, right?”

He nodded. “Yes. A little.”

“It’s really hard,” Ennoshita sighed, “when you like someone who you spent so long trying to hate, or just dislike.”

“I – I never really hated him,” Shigeru whispered, like it was a secret. “But he pissed me off, he was never dedicated to the team. Then, he came back, and…I don’t know. It was different.”

_Was it different?_

God, he didn’t even know. He really didn’t want to think into it that deeply.

“So, you think he’s dating Kenji?” Ennoshita prompted. “If it’s any consolation, Ryuu says that Yachi and Yamaguchi were the ones who met up with Kentarou.”

Shigeru nodded. “Oh, yeah.”

“And they ran into Kenji, apparently. I don’t know any more than that.”

“It’s really – no, it’s not a big deal. I’m overreacting, right?”

Ennoshita reached over and squeezed his arm. “No. But have you considered, you know? Talking to him about how you feel?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, of course. Hell, I gave him _flowers_ on _Valentine’s Day_.”

“Then, why haven’t you?”

“Why did you keep it from Tanaka until yesterday?” he countered.

“Well, at first, because he was all over Shimizu-senpai,” Ennoshita sighed. “I thought he didn’t even like guys. And even when she graduated, and Ryuu came out…why would he like me, you know?”

“I don’t know, since you’re hot,” Shigeru countered, “but go on.”

He laughed. “Thanks. But I quit the club in my first year, and I didn’t think he’d like someone who wasn’t as dedicated as he was.”

Shigeru frowned. “I didn’t know you ever quit?”

“Yeah. Coach Ukai senior was a hard ass, and…it got to be too much.”

“It doesn’t matter that you left, it matters that you came back,” Shigeru blurted out. Watari and Ennoshita both gave him a curious look. “ _Oh._ ”

Ennoshita smiled. “I think you just processed why you aren’t still mad at Kentarou.”

“Ah, dammit.”

“Don’t throw him into a wall for this one, Shigeru,” Watari sighed.

“No promises.”

 

Shigeru decided that the team needed to continue bonding, so he scheduled a second team sleepover for the next week.

“Sounds like fun, senpai!” the first-year setter cheered. “I like spending time with everyone.”

Everyone seemed to share that feeling.

“Um, am I supposed to host again?” Kyoutani muttered.

“No, that’s alright, I can take it this time,” Shigeru said, putting an arm around him. “But I still expect you to be there.”

The rest of the team left for the locker room to get changed and head home. Kyoutani whirled on him.

“What the fuck?”

“What the fuck, what?”

“Why the fuck are you being all touchy?” Kyoutani demanded. “Like, did something happen and I missed the memo?”

Shigeru flinched. “Ah, sorry, I can stop if it’s making you uncomf–”

“Don’t,” he grunted. “But don’t make me ask you to continue. Just. You have my standing permission to do weirdly affectionate shit, unless I’m about to deck you. Then, probably, don’t.”

Shigeru smiled, just a little. “Alright, alright.” He slid down his arm to hold Kyoutani’s hand. “So, this is okay?”

“Shut up.”

“I noticed you made a new friend – from Instagram,” he added.

“Yeah, Futakuchi, from Dateko.” Kyoutani glanced at him through the corner of his eyes. “And whatever _this_ is–” He waved their linked hands. “–you’d better not be a clingy or jealous piece of shit, because that doesn’t fly.”

“Oh, and just _what_ do you think _this_ is?” Shigeru asked. “Because I’m not going to get jealous and shit. That’s not my style. I just…was temporarily insecure…” Realizing how that came off, he stammered, “Because we’re friends!”

“Is that what this is, Shigeru?” Kyoutani snorted. “ _Friendship_?”

“Yes,” he decided.

Kyoutani rolled his eyes. “Get a fucking grip. And get changed. We’re going to study because I’m pretty sure my grades are slipping and I don’t want to get kicked off the team.”

“I’ve never been asked on a date more aggressively in my life.”

“It’s not a fucking date.” Kyoutani was beet red, but he continued the powerwalk to the locker room.

“Alright,” Shigeru conceded, “it’s not a fucking date.”

“What’s not a fucking date?” Watari asked, pulling his bag over his shoulder on the way out of the locker room.

“We’re all going to my house to study,” Kyoutani snapped, letting go of Shigeru’s hand.

Watari raised his eyebrows. Shigeru grinned and followed Kyoutani inside.

 _“Later,”_ he mouthed.

Watari gave a thumbs up.

 

“Pardon the intrusion,” Shigeru and Watari said upon entering Kyoutani’s home.

“Hello, Shinji – oh! Shigeru, hello,” Kyoutani-san gasped. “Ah, I didn’t realize you were bringing both of them.”

Kyoutani turned red again. “Um, Shigeru was a last-minute decision.”

“I thought Shinji was!” Shigeru cried. “I thought this was a date until you got embarrassed!”

“Oh, my god, please shut up,” he begged.

Kyoutani-san looked quite amused. “A date? Kentarou, you never told me that–”

“Going upstairs now, thanks, love you,” Kyoutani said, pulling both Watari and Shigeru by their wrists.

Shigeru laughed as he got pulled along. “I should really try and talk to your father more, because he seems to know more than I do about our–”

“ _Shut up_.”

“Seriously, what happened?” Watari asked once they were in Kyoutani’s room. “Like, you two were holding hands, something about a date? What?”

“You two have done way more than we have, and you’re giving me that,” Kyoutani groaned, face-planting on the bed. “Please don’t.”

Watari sat next to him and pat his back. “Damn, Shigeru. You broke him. The poor, useless gay.”

“I’m sorry, Kentarou; should I kiss it better?”

“That is the line,” came Kyoutani’s muffled voice.

“Sorry,” and he meant it, too.

“So, the line is, anywhere below what Shige has done with me platonically?” Watari verified.

“Yes,” Kyoutani agreed.

“Alright,” Shigeru obliged. “Well, get up. We’re studying now, remember?”

Shigeru had anticipated Kyoutani needing help with work, but none of his questions were what he expected. Kyoutani breezed through math and science. His problems seemed to be in things like literature.

“You’re like, not, stupid,” Shigeru realized.

Kyoutani rolled his eyes. “No shit.”

“I just mean – I mean – why aren’t you in a higher class? You could totally be in college prep right now,” he insisted.

“You don’t necessarily have to be in college prep to get into college. I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda fuckin hoping on going to Nationals and getting a volleyball scholarship. Not too fuckin worried about the entrance exams.”

“Yeah! No, yeah.” Shigeru nodded. “Of course. I want to get a volleyball scholarship, too. I guess – no, I don’t get it. Why doesn’t the school recognize how smart you are?”

He shrugged, then gestured to himself. “I look like a delinquent. I don’t really care to be in a class that’s just going to stress me out. So, why bother pushing myself any harder than I have to?”

“I wish that had been my mindset,” Watari whined. “I hate my workload sometimes.”

“Why are you so fucking smart?” Kyoutani snorted.

“I wish I wasn’t.” Watari collapsed onto Shigeru’s lap. “Maybe if I get a concussion, I can be stupid like Shige.”

“You dick,” Shigeru laughed, pinching Watari’s sides. “You don’t get to use me as a pillow if you’re just going to insult me.”

“Well, he’s not wrong,” Kyoutani pointed out.

“This is bullying,” Shigeru cried.

“Sorry, why don’t you push Kentarou against a wall to make yourself feel better?” Watari suggested.

“Shut up!” Shigeru felt his face heat up. It made him regret ever telling Watari that sometimes he did that to relieve frustration – frustration with Kyoutani, or about him.

“You look kind of red; are you feverish?” Watari asked innocently. “Thirsty, maybe? Should Ken get you something to drink–?”

“Shut up,” Shigeru repeated, putting him in a headlock. “I don’t want to hear it from you!”

“Hear what?”

The three of them turned their attention to the doorway, where Kyoutani-san stood with a plate of fruit. Shigeru was seriously starting to wonder just what that man knew, because he always seemed so _amused_ when he looked at him.

“I thought you might be hungry, since you came straight from practice,” he continued, as if trying to be disinterested.

“Thanks,” Kyoutani mumbled.

Shigeru released his hold on Watari in order to grab food. “Thank you, Kyoutani-san.”

“Thanks, Uncle,” Watari sang, innocent smile plastered to his face.

“Everything alright in here?” Kyoutani-san asked.

“Shinji and _your son_ are mocking my intelligence, but otherwise, yes,” Shigeru huffed, flipping his hair.

Kyoutani-san chuckled. “Ken-chan, that’s no way to speak to your not-date, now, is it?”

“Wha–? To-san!” But his father had already left the room.

“Ken-chan,” Shigeru giggled. “Your dad’s my hero.”

“Isn’t Uncle the _best_?” Watari agreed. “I would die for that man. He makes great food and he helps me tease you nerds. He’s perfect.”

“I really wanna know what you’ve told him about me, Kyoutani,” Shigeru sighed, “but I guess we can discuss it another time.”

“Help me with this fucking poem, you asshole,” Kyoutani replied gruffly, shoving his paper at Shigeru. “I don’t understand it.”

Shigeru chuckled. “It’s a love poem; I think you understand it fine.”

 

Watari left first, claiming he had to get home for dinner.

“I guess that’s it,” Shigeru sighed, leaning against the wall in the living room. “I can grab my things and get out of your way.”

Kyoutani went red. “N-nah, you don’t have to go yet.”

“No?”

He shook his head. “I mean, we’re not eating yet, and I still have some notes to go over from the week you missed, and–”

“Shigeru-kun, you’re more than welcome to join us for dinner,” Kyoutani-san interrupted. “Kentarou tells me you like ikura don?”

“I didn’t know you knew my favorite food,” Shigeru said, raising a brow. “When did I even tell you?”

“It’s just like you to like some fancy ass dish,” Kyoutani grumbled.

“It’s not that fancy,” Kyoutani-san argued. “Anyways, as I said, you’re welcome to join us.”

“Thank you, Kyoutani-san.” Shigeru bowed. “I would appreciate it very much.”

“Kiss ass,” Kyoutani muttered, walking past his dad into the kitchen.

“Sir, can I ask you something?” Shigeru started.

“Sure.”

“How did you, a very kind man, spawn the angry mad dog in the kitchen?”

The man chuckled. “I don’t really think he’s as angry as you seem to think, Shigeru-kun.”

Shigeru walked into the kitchen to find Kyoutani setting the table. It was oddly domestic, seeing him this way. This was only his second time at Kyoutani’s house, and it was strange. There were so many things that would’ve felt impossible in their relationship just under a year ago, but there they were.

“Would you stop fucking watching me, you creep,” Kyoutani snapped.

Shigeru grinned. “Here we see a wild Ken-chan in its natural habitat. Previous Ken-chan sightings suggested that it may live in a dark cave or rundown alleyway, but it appears that the gruff demeanor of the Ken-chan is an act to distract its potential predators.”

“Fuckin weirdo,” Kyoutani muttered, continuing to set the table.

“Ah, yes, the familiar voice of the Ken-chan, calling out what sounds like profanities. Some sources say it’s meant to scare off potential threats. Others believe it may be a mating call.”

Kyoutani whirled around. “Would you shut the fuck up?”

He just grinned wider. “I’m sorry; you just make it so easy to tease you.”

“I’m setting the goddamn table so we can eat,” Kyoutani grumbled. “You could just stand there quietly like a normal person.”

“No fun,” he whined. He leaned against the counter and propped up his head with his hand. For a couple minutes, he stayed silent, but Shigeru was never one for the quiet. “Hey~.”

“Yeah?”

“If I hold your hand at lunch tomorrow, are you gonna punch me?”

Kyoutani tensed, then turned to look at him again. “I – I don’t fuckin know. Maybe. Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

He shrugged.

“Great. Well, I’m going to, and you can decide if you have to punch me.”

“You’re going to what?” Kyoutani-san asked, finally joining them in the kitchen.

“Nothing,” Kyoutani huffed. “Table’s set.”

“You didn’t put Shigeru-kun next to you?” Kyoutani-san asked. “Hm.”

“He’ll be fine across from me, I’m sure,” he grunted.

Shigeru laughed. “You get embarrassed about the stupidest things, Kentarou.” He took his seat at the table. “Thank you again for having me, Kyoutani-san.”

“Of course,” Kyoutani-san replied, bringing the food to the table.

“Thank you for the food,” Shigeru and Kyoutani both said.

“Shigeru-kun, I have to admit, I was surprised you came here again so soon,” Kyoutani-san mused, filling his plate with food.

“Why’s that?” Shigeru asked, getting some food for himself.

“Well, Kentarou always gave me the impression that you may not like him very much.”

Shigeru frowned and looked across the table at Kyoutani. “Is that true, Kentarou?”

Kyoutani looked like he was trying to sink down into the floor. “To be fair, you didn’t like me very much.”

“Yeah, when you quit the team and then showed up and started spiking like you owned the place,” Shigeru conceded. “But that was months ago. I mean, since the Spring Inter-High Qualifiers, it’s been – I mean – you don’t still think that, do you?” He was aware that his voice was raising in pitch, but he didn’t want to make Kyoutani think he hated him.

“No, of course I don’t,” he mumbled. “Obviously.”

“Because I do like you. A lot,” Shigeru added.

Kyoutani choked on his food. “Y-you what?”

“You know? Like, you and me and Shinji, we’re all a friend group!” he explained hurriedly.

“O-oh, I mean, yeah, obviously, I know that.”

Kyoutani-san frowned as he chewed, as if he was watching a train wreck unfurl.

“Be – besides!” he continued. “You’re the only spiker who I – I mean you’re like – um! Because!” _Is it hot in here? Why am I sweating?_ Shigeru stared at his plate like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“You tryna call me your spiker, or something?” Kyoutani asked. The words were blunt, but the tone was amused.

“I would never, Kyoutani-kun.”

“Because I’m not your _Iwa-chan_.” On using Oikawa’s old nickname for Iwaizumi, Kyoutani mimicked Oikawa’s voice.

Shigeru glanced back up. “Of course not. You’re my _Ken-chan._ ”

“So, should I be calling you _Shittyhaba_?”

He laughed. “And what? Sacrifice the oh-so-original ‘Creampuff’?”

Kyoutani snorted. “I can’t believe you invited him to eat with us, Dad.”

“Technically, you invited him to stay,” Kyoutani-san countered.

“He’s not wrong, _Kentarou_.”

“ _Tch._ You sound like Oikawa when you hold out your words like that,” he scoffed.

“Oikawa-san isn’t that bad,” Shigeru groaned, rolling his eyes. “We’re not going back on that. If you go there, it’s because you’re _looking_ for a fight.”

Kyoutani shut up at that comment, and they continued to eat in silence.

“Shigeru-kun,” Kyoutani-san began, “so, you were here to help Ken with literature?”

Shigeru nodded. “Ah – yes. It’s my best subject.”

“Very nice. Do you plan to do anything literature related in college?”

“Yes! I want to major in Japanese language and lit,” he replied proudly. “I want to be a writer, but if I can’t do that, I would love to teach high schoolers.”

“Oh,” Kyoutani said, surprised. “I didn’t know you wrote?”

“I’m full of surprises, Ken-chan,” he sang. “I – uh – I write poetry, actually.”

Kyoutani’s face got red. “O-oh, wow. I – uh, I mean – just – uh?”

“I could show you sometime.”

Kyoutani nodded like he couldn’t trust his words anymore. Meanwhile, Shigeru felt like throwing _himself_ against a wall, because _how could I promise him something like that and how are you going to explain any poems that are totally about him and oh my god Shigeru you absolute fucking moron_ –

“Ken-chan wants to go to vet school,” Kyoutani-san said, interrupting his thoughts. “He’s always been good with animals.”

“Oh?” Shigeru smiled and leaned forward. “I didn’t know you had such proper aspirations.”

“What, d’ya think I wanted to spike volleyballs for the rest of my fuckin life?”

“Kentarou,” his father warned.

“Sorry.”

“No, no.” Shigeru waved him off. “I have misjudged you too many times in the past two years. I deserve that.”

Kyoutani’s face got red again. “To be fair, I probably gave you a bad first impression. And then I left the club.”

“It doesn’t matter that you left. It matters that you came back.”

 

Shigeru kept his word and held Kyoutani’s hand at lunch the next day. It started off casual enough, but Shigeru couldn’t help but get antsy. It was just…hand-holding. Which was great! God, he loved the way that Kyoutani’s calloused hands fit into his own smoother ones. He loved that his long fingers gave the illusion that Kyoutani’s hands were small. It was great.

But it was the kind of hand-holding that was intended for walking or _doing_ something. It was kinda boring for just sitting there.

After all, he’d finished his lunch and there was still quite a bit of time left. He found himself just staring at their joined hands, willing them to do something more interesting than this. Hadn’t he held hands non-platonically before? Shigeru had a girlfriend once. For like a week. But they held hands in that week, hadn’t they?

Kyoutani was seemingly oblivious as he finished his bottle of water. He just casually ran his thumb over Shigeru’s knuckles, and suddenly, Shigeru couldn’t breathe (but like, in a good way, he thought).

Watari was watching them with silent amusement. His grey eyes were full of unsaid laughter, and Shigeru was sure they’d both get separate earfuls from him later on.

“Stop staring, weirdo,” Kyoutani huffed. “It’s your own goddamn hand.”

“Your hand almost looks small,” he said before he could think about it. _Ah, fuck_. “I – um! – I just mean –”

“Maybe you just have freakishly long fingers,” Kyoutani snapped, ears turning red.

“Maybe,” Shigeru agreed, finally having the upper hand. He uncurled his fingers and traced down Kyoutani’s, then ran them back up, observing the difference. “Tiny and cute.”

“You are _three_ centimeters taller than me, asshole,” Kyoutani muttered, the red spreading to his cheeks.

“It’s closer to six now,” Watari chimed in. “Shige is still growing but it seems you’ve hit your max height.”

The thought made Shigeru embarrassingly giddy – the idea that Kyoutani would look short and small beside him, a tiny future boyfriend. Lacing their fingers once more, he smiled. Yeah, he would like that.

“The fuck are you smiling for?” Kyoutani asked. One look at his face destroyed the idea that he was actually annoyed.

“Nothing,” Shigeru sang.

“Okay, what the _fuck_ happened after I left yesterday?” Watari demanded.

“We had dinner,” Shigeru replied simply.

It was the truth, after all. Pretty much right after dinner, Shigeru went home and danced through awkwardly explaining to his mother that, yes, yes he had eaten dinner with “that charming spiker” and no, no he was not his boyfriend. He wasn’t really sure what had happened or when, but Shigeru knew that it was either this, or he was back to slamming Kyoutani into walls.

They were trying to grow past that.

“We should start heading back,” Kyoutani said gruffly, pulling them both to their feet. “Lunch is almost done.”

They walked together down the stairs, but when Kyoutani turned where they usually parted ways, Shigeru tightened his grip and pulled him back.

“What?”

Shigeru shrugged. “Walk me to class?”

Kyoutani scoffed. “The fuck do you think I am, your boyfriend?” he grumbled, but he obliged anyways.

“I’m well aware that you’re not my boyfriend,” Shigeru replied, a bounce in his step. “Ah, but you are something, Kyoutani.”

“On the verge on kicking your ass is what I am,” he quipped.

Shigeru dragged Kyoutani with him into the mostly empty classroom. “You never showed me your volleyball notes, you know?”

“I have them in my bag,” he said. “I can show you after practice?”

“We’ll go to my place,” Shigeru offered.

“With Shinji,” Kyoutani stipulated.

Shigeru tried not to pout, but he knew that he was. “Ah – yeah. With Shinji.”

“And you’ll show me some of your writing?”

“Yeah – if you can understand it without me explaining it, that is,” he teased.

“As if you’re even smart enough to write something that I wouldn’t understand,” Kyoutani growled. “Shinji has to be there, because –”

Shigeru put a finger over Kyoutani’s lips to silence him. “You don’t have to explain yourself. You set the boundaries, and I’ll stay within them. Okay?”

Kyoutani slapped his hand away, then nodded. “Well, are you going to give me my hand back, or do I have to rip off your arm and take it with me to class?”

“Such a brute,” Shigeru whined, dropping his hand. “Go on, then. See you at practice.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Don’t be late!”

 

**Seijhoes**

**Mom:** ugh look at them

 **Mom:** shige is showing ken his poems but not me

 **Mom:** n im just supposed to sit here?

 **Mom:** not giving a crap?

 **Kindaichi:** Top Ten Anime Betrayals

 **Yachi:** I wish I was an anime character

 **Yachi:** I probably wouldn’t be so fucking awkward then

 **Kunimi:** I just got a major chill reading that, like u just broke some unspoken rule

 **Yachi:** I didn’t know Yahaba was a poet

 **Mom:** yea but he never shares :(

 **Mom:** but then suddenly kyou starts holding his hand all day and now he gets to see the poems?

 **Mom:** disgraced

 **Mom:** in my own house

 **Yahaba:** we are in my house

 **Kyoutani:** and it’s because I asked him yesterday after you left

 **Mom:** :0 I cannot believe

 

Shigeru watched anxiously as Kyoutani’s eyes ran over a page of one of his earlier poems. He had done his best to filter out love poems, because, ew, how embarrassing. But he knew that he was a lovesick puppy for Oikawa back in first-year, and there was no way around those poems. Some of the love poems were volleyball poems; some of the volleyball poems were love poems.

He just…wrote.

Sometimes, the poems accompanied pages and pages of thought (he kept those to himself). It was all so raw and personal, close to home, but he also knew that he wanted to someday publish a lot of these, so he should get used to it now.

Kyoutani looked up at him, holding a paper tightly. “This is about Oikawa?”

Shigeru leaned over his shoulder and felt a wave of nausea, but he nodded. “Yeah. Are you going to give me grief about it?”

He shook his head, eyes wide, as if he couldn’t believe Shigeru would even suggest such a thing. “It’s good. I mean, it’s sad. Not – I don’t mean sad like pathetic – it’s like – you know? I get it.”

 _Right. He used to like Iwaizumi._ “Yeah. Well. It’s just a bunch of angsty ramblings from a lovestruck teenager, right? Can’t be that good.” His face was heating up. He was regretting this decision more by the minute.

Watari glanced up from his phone, curiosity winning over. “There’s no way it’s bad, Shigeru.”

Before he could respond, Kyoutani passed the poem to Watari.

“Kyou! You can’t just share someone else’s work like that!” he gasped, lunging for the paper.

Kyoutani held him back. “You need to know that it’s good. Not that I would lie to you, but let Watari read it and agree?”

Shigeru sighed. “I – yeah. Fine. Okay.”

Watari handed it back over. “That’s – that’s really emotional.”

Shigeru felt his face get hotter. “Well, I was feeling emotional when I wrote it.”

“I think I like your – uh – your prose over your verse,” Kyoutani mumbled.

“Do you actually know the difference?” Shigeru snorted. “No, that was a compliment, and I’m sorry. Thank you.”

Kyoutani rolled his eyes. “This one is prose.” He picked up another one from earlier in his first year. “This one is verse.”

“So, you were paying attention when we studied yesterday,” Shigeru sang.

“No, but we happen to be in the poetry unit in both literature and English, so maybe I picked up on a few things.”

Shigeru laughed. “Alright, well, I’m still kind of impressed. I didn’t know the difference after years of writing between the styles.”

“Why do you write prose when it’s about love or volleyball, and verse when it’s about like, nature and shit?” Kyoutani asked.

“What? Do I?”

Kyoutani nodded. “I don’t think – it’s not bad! No. I – um – it feels really auth – authentic? Fuck. I hate having only nice things to say about this.”

“Would you rather be speechless?” Watari asked. He was holding a couple of papers that must’ve slid out from under Shigeru’s bed.

_Uh-oh._

“What?”

Shigeru paled. “Oh, no, Shinji –”

“I won’t,” Watari promised, “but there’s like seventeen poems here and they’re all about you.”

Kyoutani made a strangled sound, turning to look at Shigeru for verification.

“They’re not _about_ you, per se,” he argued, waving his arms in front of his face. “But you may have – erm – you could’ve inspired – well – a thing or two – maybe?”

“And you hid them?” Kyoutani asked, shock melting into amusement.

“Of course,” Shigeru snorted. “I mean, what’d you fucking expect? I’d give you a stack of poems about how much I hate you?”

“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t,” Watari snickered, flipping through. “Though it’s unfair to say they’re all hate poems. Some of them are about new friendship in the strangest ways.”

“Hm.” Kyoutani nodded, processing, then lunged across the room to grab for the poems.

“No!” Shigeru tackled him. “Oh my god, don’t!”

“Just curious how much you hated me that you could only express it through _prose_.”

“What makes you think _you_ deserve raw, unfiltered thoughts like what goes into prose poetry­– ah! Fuck!”

Kyoutani succeeded in throwing Shigeru off of him, so Watari (what a real one) sat on the poems.

“I’m not moving, because I respect the intentions of the artist to keep these hidden.” Watari grinned. “I will now interest you all in facts about some poets. For example, Shakespeare wrote love poems to men and women. It’s commonly believed that he was bisexual! _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ by Oscar Wilde was so gay that it was used in his sodomy trial! Uh –”

“Alright, I won’t grab the fucking poems,” Kyoutani groaned.

Shigeru figured he’d do anything to make Watari stop giving them a lesson on the queers of history. (Shigeru also made a mental note to ask for more facts later, because that was actually kind of surprising to him.)

 

“Are we going to talk about these?” Watari asked after Kyoutani went home, waving the poems around. “I mean, I didn’t even know you… _felt_ so much about him?”

Shigeru shrugged. “They just are what they are.”

“Attached to journal-like entries, you know I know that’s not even true.” Watari sighed and handed them over. “Do you need help resorting them into chronological order?”

“Y-yeah.”

Side by side, they sifted through the papers and put them back in order (Shigeru obsessively dated everything he wrote so that he could monitor his progress). He was still kind of embarrassed that the Kyoutani Stack had been discovered, but at least Kyoutani wasn’t the one who’d read any of them.

“You never wrote poems about Kotone-chan,” Watari muttered. “Your first and only girlfriend, but you wrote at least seventeen about Kyoutani.”

Shigeru threw up his hands. “What do you want me to say? Half of them are about hating him and half of them are about loving him.”

“The love poems started two days before Valentine’s.”

“Yeah. That was kind of when I realized.”

“When I forced you to realize.” Watari looked guilty, staring down at the poem currently in his hands.

“No. I realized it before you said anything.”

He glanced over. “Really?”

“Would I lie to you, Shinji?”

“Yes,” Watari snorted. “Hey, if you had these many feelings about the type of flower you gave him, why’d you settle for roses?”

Shigeru shrugged. “Easier to do that than try and convey some hidden meaning through flower language, right? I mean, it’s not like he would’ve gotten it.”

“I’m just glad you don’t bottle the feelings up anymore,” Watari sighed. “And I’m kind of wondering what Kentarou does to release the tension.”

“Probably vile and disgusting things,” Shigeru guessed.

“Maybe he’s got a hidden talent too,” Watari countered. “I bet it’s musical – doesn’t he strike you as someone who can probably play an instrument? I wonder if he can sing. Oh! Maybe he’s written songs about you –!”

“Shinji!” Shigeru cried. “Please, oh my god. You make it sound so dramatic; it isn’t.”

“It’s so sappy, Shige, I’m just calling it like it is. Now I need to do some research and compare notes with Yacchan.”

“What’s she got to do with this?!”

Watari grinned. “Yacchan has got _everything_ to do with this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop now the poetry stuff makes sense! like I said I'm actually, surprisingly, really proud of this chapter? so I really hope you liked it. Next week marks halfway through! I'm literally so excited!!! Anyways, love you, kiddos x
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Projecting my touch-aversion and social anxiety onto Kyoutani?
> 
> It's more likely than you think!

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Puppy:** ugh, I don’t want to go.

**Yachi:** you gotta

**Senpai:** get with that~

**Guardian:** ull be gr8 ken-chan<3!!

**Puppy:** I don’t stay over at other people’s houses, I just don’t like it.

**Futakuchi:** I am still not over seijoh’s mad dog being an anxious baby

**Puppy:** I will pay you any sum of money to never call me any of those things ever again :)

**Ace:** should I distract u by telling u in great detail everything that shouhei has done in the last ten minutes

**Puppy:** please don’t

**Ace:** great so he spiked one of kenma’s tosses and he looked like a graceful feline

**Ace:** absolute beauty

**Ace:** im so gay

**Ace:** help

**Puppy:** get it together, tora

**Ace:** hhhhhh

**Puppy:** your crisis is not helping mine.

**Futakuchi:** who is shouhei?

**Yachi:** Fukunaga Shouhei, wing spiker at Nekoma, vice-captain I believe?

**Ace:** ur 4getting that he’s also the love of my life and apple of my eye

**Yachi:** right yes and tora lowkey stalks him but its chill bc they friends

**Senpai:** and tora is contantly dying bc apparently he’s “so cut eand shy and kkfhagjkl”

**Puppy:** I hate being vice cap I don’t want to go to sleepovers yachi come save me please

**Yachi:** as your wife I feel I should encourage you to be more social <3

**Puppy:** ugh I want a divorce

**Puppy:** Kenji why don’t you tell us about your own gay crises and then maybe ill be distracted by things I didn’t already know

**Futakuchi:** uh

**Freckles:** AH FUCK

**Puppy:** um hey yamaguchi?

**Freckles:** FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK~

**Yachi:** babe u Gucci?

**Freckles:** nooo

**Senpai:** what happened?

**Ace:** ill fight them whoever did it ill beat them up come @ me

**Freckles:** totally just accidentlly told Akiteru that I like Tsukki lmao no big deal no big deal hahahahah

**Yachi:** aw aki-nii is so nice though im sure hes not even bothered

**Freckles:** no u don’t get it aki-nii is like a brother to me which means im getting teased lightly and all in good nature but good GOD help me

**Puppy:** I can be there in 15

**Yachi:** GO TO YOUR FUCKING SLEEPOVER ASSHAT

**Puppy:** I demand a divorce

**Yachi:** IM GETTING THE KIDS AND THERES NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

**Puppy:** WHAT KIDS

**Yachi:** tora and ryuu and yuu

**Puppy:** fine then I want tadashi and Kenji

**Yachi:** nooo tadashi is my baby and kenji is my new adopted son you cant have them?

**Futakuchi:** what is happening

**Ace:** we’re choosing sides in the divorce

**Futakuchi:** what have I signed onto

**Senpai:** :)

**Futakuchi:** go to your sleepover, Kentarou. You’ve got a boyfriend to get with

**Puppy:** unfriended

 

Kentarou actually did feel bad that he couldn’t rush to Yamaguchi’s and make sure he was okay. It was no secret that the guy had been anguishing over his childhood friend for years, and the fact that Tsukishima’s older brother found out…yikes.

But he had his own annoying crush to deal with. _Crush._ Could he even call it that anymore? Something was so different, what with the handholding and the fact that he was allowed to read Yahaba’s poems even before Watari…

_Good enough, not good enough, my best, they say I did my best._

_Did I?_

_Was my best so terrible that I couldn’t fulfil my one responsibility,_

_To my friends, my peers,_

_Why do they count on me?_

_Unprepared for such responsibility,_

_And we lost._

_We lost._

_I’ve let them all down._

A lot of it was so ramble-y, but Kentarou understood those ones better than when Yahaba attempted rhymes and verse. There was this itching curiosity about the ones supposedly inspired by himself, but he could only hope that eventually he would see those. If this…whatever it was, if it went anywhere beyond hand-holding.

Finally, he got the courage to knock on the door. He was early, but Yahaba had asked him to come early so he could fulfil his obligation as vice-captain and help with setup.

“Ken-chan!” Yahaba’s mother was the one to open the door. “Hello again! Come on inside. You can leave your bag in the living room or Shigeru’s room – whichever you prefer!”

“Th-thank you, Yahaba-san. Pardon – pardon the intrusion,” he stammered. He tried to understand why in god’s name she called him _Ken-chan_ , further still why he’d prefer to put his things in Shigeru’s room.

“Please, call me Auntie, dear.”

He would’ve refused – he only really called Watari’s parents Auntie and Uncle, only because he’d seen them so many times – but she was beaming, and he didn’t want to be rude. Besides…it was kind of nice.

“ _Auntie_ ,” he corrected himself.

“Shi-chan is in the kitchen, once you’ve set your stuff down.”

He nodded and toed off his shoes, switching to slippers. “Thank you.”

Once his bag was in the living room, he headed to the kitchen. Yahaba was standing at the counter, chopping vegetables and throwing them in a pot on the stove. Kentarou decided he didn’t want to interrupt the domestic scene unfolding before him: unlike Yahaba, he knew how to watch his crush do things in a kitchen without narrating them like a nature documentary.

(That had been offensively cute, though.)

When Yahaba turned to grab something, he noticed Kentarou watching him and jumped. “Ah! Kyoutani!”

“Hi, _Shi-chan_ ,” Kentarou replied, a stupid grin probably plastered to his face.

“Huh? Oh, god, _Ka-san_!” Just like that, Yahaba was gone.

He chuckled and pulled out his phone for more updates on Yamaguchi’s crisis.

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Freckles:** lmaooooooooooooo kill me

**Ace:** it’s not that bad, im sure tsukishima-san will forget by tomorrow

**Freckles:** the man has the memory of an elephant

**Freckles:** im doomed

**Freckles:** hes gonna tell auntie and uncle and ill never be allowed to spend the night again

**Senpai:** kei is? Literally gay?

**Guardian:** and I’m pretty sure he’s out to his parents?

**Yachi:** its tru I was there

**Yachi:** so chill~

**Freckles:** cant cant cant

**Yachi:** babe

**Freckles:** hhhhh

**Ace:** Shouhei says hello

**Ace:** because he asked why I was smiling and I lied and said it was u fucks

**Ace:** but ur not makin me smile

**Ace:** fucks

**Senpai:** u think we love it when you describe to us the exact curvature of fukunaga’s leg muscles?

**Ace:** but they’re good legs

**Freckles:** focus👏

**Puppy:** dude if his parents are anything like mine and apparently shigeru’s then you are beyond good

**Freckles:** lmao what happened

**Puppy:** apparently I’m calling his mother Auntie now and he’s all mad that she called him Shi-chan in front of me?

**Puppy:** you gays already know that my dad ships the hell out of us

**Puppy:** *you guys whoops typing too fast

**Yachi:** wheres the lie tho

**Puppy:** DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THE POEMS

**Senpai:** the WHAT NOW

**Puppy:** ill be back later and I realized theres so much I forgot to tell all of you whoops

**Yachi:** babe this sounds important don’t take too long

**Puppy:** I wont I promise

**Yachi:** well go on and kiss your not boyfriend well be here

**Puppy:** im not doing that

**Puppy:** because I haven’t um

**Puppy:** anyone

**Ace:** there’s nothing wrong w that ken-chan<3

**Futakuchi:** yeah, lots of people have never had their first kiss

**Freckles:** yea!

**Yachi:** virgins, all of you

**Yachi:** except probably not ryuu tbh

**Senpai:** MY LOVE WITH CHIKARA IS WHOLESOME AND PURE

**Guardian:** lmao sure

**Puppy:** tora and tada, I knew, but kenji, I have to admit im surprised?

**Futakuchi:** what, why

**Yachi:** bc you’re like attractive or smth, probably

**Futakuchi:** mm yes but im also hopelessly in love with my friend?

**Puppy:** oh?

**Senpai:** TEA, TEA, TEA, TEA

**Guardian:** NEW TEA, PLEASE SPILL

**Yachi:** nothing like good ole hot tea in the early morn

**Ace:** it is FIVE O’CLOCK in the evening, yacchan

**Yachi:** oh shut up

**Futakuchi:** aone

**Futakuchi:** shut up

**Puppy:** I both did and did not see that coming

**Futakuchi:** shut uppppp

**Senpai:** THAT’S SO FUCKING CUTE

 

“What are you grinning at?” Yahaba asked, trying to look over Kentarou’s shoulder at his phone.

He held it close to his chest, locking it as quickly as he could. “The squad group chat.”

“Seijhoes?”

He shook his head. “The one with Tanaka and Noya and everyone.”

“Oh, the top-secret one where you all pretend to be punk but just have gay panics?”

Kentarou snorted. “That’s the one, yes.”

“You really do that?” Yahaba laughed.

“It’s just one really long gay panic, actually. We’re all useless gays. Disaster gays. Problematic queers,” he rambled.

Yahaba laughed harder, biting his lip to contain it. “I can’t believe I’ve known you so long and never knew you had a real friend group. I don’t even have that.”

“You should befriend the captains,” Kentarou suggested. “You already get along with Chika- _ah_ , I mean, Ennoshita. I have Yamamoto and Futakuchi in my contacts, if you wanted.”

“I also can’t believe _you_ are trying to set me up with friends,” Yahaba sighed, eyes sweeping over Kentarou’s face. “I like Watari. Quality over quantity, right?”

“Yeah. I just happened to get a good quantity of high-quality friends,” he joked. “Wait.”

“What?”

“Well, okay.” He unlocked his phone. “Yacchan called us all virgins, like she…wasn’t. I gotta ask.”

“Oh, no,” Yahaba said. “Once you know, you can never un-know.”

“But I have to know,” Kentarou lamented. “It’s killing me and I have to have something to hold over her head since she’s our designated High Functioning Homo.”

Yahaba snorted. “Someone should make her a trophy that says that.”

“Birthday gift ideas,” Kentarou agreed. He opened the chat back up, extremely aware of how Yahaba hugged him from behind so that he could see what was being said.

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Puppy:** hey waifu

**Yachi:** ye

**Puppy:** you called us all virgins like you weren’t one too, lmao

**Yachi:** what

**Senpai:** spicy~

**Ace:** TEA, TEA, TEA, TEA

**Futakuchi:** do you guys always chant “tea” until the person spills said tea?

**Puppy:** it is our way

**Guardian:** it has always been our way

**Freckles:** it was the way of our fathers before us

**Yachi:** ugggghhhhh can’t believe y’all are making me go into this :(

**Yachi:** yes I have done sexy things with my girlfriend and we’ve been together for a Hot Minute so no one is actually surprised yea?

**Puppy:** I cannot believe

**Yachi:** go suck shi-chan’s dick

**Yachi:** SHIGERU I KNOW YOU’RE THERE

**Puppy:** I cANNOT BELIEVE-

 

Yahaba laughed behind him, burying his face in Kentarou’s shoulder. “Yacchan is a godsend.”

“She’s from hell,” Kentarou argued, his face hot from all this touchy-feely crap. “Stop laughing!”

“Sorry, it’s just so fucking funny,” Yahaba giggled. “I mean, who would have thought that such a tiny, innocent looking girl would be able to destroy a Mad Dog in a single sentence.”

“I don’t want to suck your dick,” he mumbled.

“That’s okay,” Yahaba said, composing himself. “You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to.”

“I – I know you weren’t thinking that,” he stammered, “I’m just saying.”

“I know. Besides,” Yahaba continued against his ear, “I’ve always kind of wanted to know what it would be like to have –”

“Shigeru, before you finish that incredibly rude sentence,” Yahaba-san interrupted, “please continue making food for your guests?”

Kentarou felt Yahaba tense around him before muttering, “Sorry, Mom,” and letting go of him.

He was full aware that his face was red, but it was kind of worth it to see Yahaba get so embarrassed. It was like payback for all the times his father had embarrassed him when Yahaba was there.

“What can I do to help, Auntie?” he asked, stepping towards the counter.

“Just help Shi-chan with making the stew. I’ll be right over here, setting up the other snacks,” she added pointedly.

Kentarou snickered and bumped into Yahaba with his hip.

“Shut up,” he pleaded.

“You did it to yourself, _Shi-chan_ ,” Kentarou reminded him.

“You’re really going to mock me while I have a knife?”

“Oh, what’re you gonna do?” Kentarou shook his head. “What can I do to help?”

 

“Well, isn’t this just the most domestic thing I’ve ever walked in on?”

Kentarou turned to see Watari joining them in the kitchen. He and Yahaba had just finished setting up all the snacks.

“What took you so long, Shinji?” Kentarou asked.

He shrugged. “Didn’t want to be the third wheel again.”

Yahaba rolled his eyes. “Well, you wouldn’t have been, thanks to my cock-blocking moth–”

“No, no,” Kentarou interrupted, “no cocks were blocked. There was none of that happening in this town.”

“Ken-chan, such a prude,” Yahaba teased.

“You two are the weirdest non-couple I’ve ever had to put up with,” Watari complained. “That puts you above: Hanamaki and Matsukawa, Oikawa and Iwaizumi, _and_ Kindaichi and Kunimi.”

“Yikes,” Yahaba said with a frown. “I can’t believe we’re at that level.”

“We’re not,” Kentarou argued. _At least, I hope we aren’t._

“Well, the rest of the ream will be here soon, in any case.”

Sure enough, the team started to flood Yahaba’s house and head for the kitchen to eat.

 

“Alright, so I have a number of games planned ahead of time this time around!” Yahaba announced. “For team bonding and building trust and all of that!”

The first-years seemed excited, so Kentarou tried to be excited too. It was different outside of the gym or his own home. In Yahaba’s house, his stomach was twisting in knots. Watari seemed to notice, though, and before he could say anything, the libero’s arms were around his waist. He gave the best comfort hugs.

“I want to do some trust falls, but I also want to play Twister, Truth or Dare, and do a human knot – do you guys know what that is?”

“I think you’re just trying to gauge how flexible Kentarou is,” Watari teased.

“I don’t need these games to find that out; I already know,” Yahaba deadpanned. Then, he paled. “Because we stretch together. Like, before practice? _For practice._ Shinji, I hate you!”

Watari just laughed, pulling Kentarou even closer. “And you act like Kentarou is the one easily scandalized!”

“Anyways, let’s start with the human knot,” Yahaba continued through clenched teeth. “C’mon, get in a circle – Shinji, stop snuggling Ken-chan.”

“Ken-chan,” Kindaichi snorted.

“Say it again, I fuckin dare you,” Kentarou growled.

Kindaichi did not say it again.

“So, okay, get in a circle,” Yahaba repeated. “And then grab someone’s hand with each of yours. But it can’t be the person next to you, and you can’t grab the same person twice.”

Kentarou intentionally positioned himself next to Yahaba to try and avoid holding his hand if at all possible. He grabbed one of the first-year’s and Kunimi’s.

Once everyone was holding hands, Yahaba continued, “Now, we try to work together to untangle ourselves.”

“I think if I spin,” Kindaichi said, his arms being one of the only ones crossed over each other. “Like, okay, here?”

“Ow!” Watari yelped. “I’ll be moving too, then, so you don’t twist my arm out of its socket.”

“Yahaba-san,” Kawamoto said, “maybe move in towards the center?”

Yahaba did. “Ken-chan, move your arm closer to me over my head.”

Kentarou obliged, but he didn’t hesitate to use his and Kunimi’s hands to “accidentally” hit Yahaba in the head.

“Asshole,” Yahaba groaned.

They continued attempting to untangle the group, and Kentarou and Yahaba took any opportunity to “accidentally” assault each other. Yahaba stepped on Kentarou’s feet a few times, and Kentarou never hesitated to smack him if at all possible.

A couple of the team members spun to free themselves, landing Watari and Kentarou pressed chest to chest in the center of the circle.

“Hell _oo_ ~,” Watari chimed. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Kentarou snorted. “I think you need to go under this arm?”

“Probably. Nice pectorals.”

“Don’t be weird Shinji,” he snickered, ushering the libero away.

“You stepped on my foot,” Yahaba complained.

“Hm?” For once, he hadn’t actually tried to.

“Senpai, I need you to turn,” Kunimi called, his arm at a weird angle.

“Oh, sorry, Kunimi,” Kentarou muttered, turning so the second-year was more comfortable. That landed him nearly nose to nose to Yahaba. “Sorry.”

“Why?” Yahaba asked, blinking innocently. “Part of the game, right?”

He scoffed and kicked Yahaba’s ankles. “Shut up.”

“Lower your arms, I need to step over you,” the setter said impatiently.

He did, keeping his eyes attached to the floor. There was no way he was going to take the bait and look at Yahaba from that angle. No fucking way.

“Wait, we’re almost there!” Kindaichi gasped. He was the only one who still looked tangled. “Okay…so…” When he moved to finish untangling the knot, it seemed to make it worse. “Oh. Oops.”

Yeah, this was going to be a long game.

 

Thanks to Kindaichi’s uncanny ability to re-tangle the team every time they were almost free, it took way too long to finally sort out the human knot. By the end of it, Kentarou was feeling gross and sweaty, pulse racing and brain starting to short-circuit. He desperately needed some air.

“I’ll be back,” he muttered to Yahaba before racing out the front door to sit.

It was just too much all at once. Too many people, too close, too little space, having to keep his hands latched onto his kouhais who he didn’t even really talk to… The only people he really could handle being that close to were Watari, Yahaba, and Yachi. Everyone else got overwhelming.

“Hey.”

Kentarou turned to see Yahaba standing by the door, arms crossed over his chest.

“What?”

Yahaba sighed and came to sit beside him on the step. “Sorry if it’s a lot. Maybe we should’ve had you host again, eh?”

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Whatever.”

“We don’t have to play Twister or anything if you’re not up for the contact.”

“Thanks,” he whispered, eyes trained on the ground.

Yahaba bumped shoulders with him. “Yeah, well, just looking out for my friend and vice-captain.”

Kentarou snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Yahaba’s fingers nudged at Kentarou’s hand, and he accepted them without a second thought.

“I’ll understand if you can’t stay the night, Ken-chan.”

Kentarou wanted to snap at him for using that stupid nickname, but the words were so soft and genuine that he couldn’t. “I’ll stay.”

Yahaba squeezed his hand. “You’re allowed to change your mind, though, okay? Don’t hesitate to tell me if you can’t.”

Kentarou gave into gravity and rested his head against Yahaba’s shoulder. “Okay.”

Yahaba rested his head against Kentarou’s, and they sat in silence for a few minutes. It was weird. Usually, physical contact was draining. But Watari’s hugs were like getting an emotional jumpstart, and any affection from Yahaba was recharging. Yachi’s affection was healing. He wondered why that was, but for right then, he accepted it.

“ _Ahem._ ”

They both startled and turned to see Yahaba-san standing in the doorway, looking at them with amusement.

“Shi-chan, Ken-chan, your teammates were wondering if you were alright?”

“Emotionally recharging,” Yahaba explained, keeping a firm grip on Kentarou’s hand. “He doesn’t do groups very well.”

“Ah. Very nice of you to help him _recharge_ , Shigeru.” She shook her head. “If there’s anything you need, Kentarou, don’t hesitate to ask.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Once she was back inside, he huffed a sigh of relief.

“What?” Yahaba laughed. “You know she knows we’re not together, right?”

He nodded. “No shit, genius. But I don’t want her to think that I’m creeping on her son.”

“Trust me, she knows that you would _not_ be creeping.” A blush spread across Yahaba’s cheeks. _Cute._

“You talk to your mom about me?”

“You talk to your dad about _me_!”

They glared at each other until someone cracked – who really knows who cracked first, honestly – and they both laughed. Yahaba rested his forehead against Kentarou’s, biting his lip to withhold a second fit of giggles.

“Ken-chan, we’re a wreck.”

“Disaster gays, Shi-chan.”

Yahaba snorted. “Excuse me, I am a disaster _bisexual_.”

“Right,” Kentarou laughed, “forgive me.” After a beat of silence, “Should we go back inside?”

Yahaba nodded. “Only if you’re ready.”

“I am.” Then, “Thanks, Shigeru.”

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Freckles:** I htnk im having a panci attakc

**Freckles:** help, please

**Freckles:** I just dont know what to do I feel lik e im losign my best friekd

**Freckles:** he doesn’t evne know u know but I feel like hes going to fidn out and hes going to hate me because im just some creep who didn’t thell hikm what I was htinkgin

**Freckles:** I feel like I cant breath

**Freckles:** no im good im really sorry forget it I don’t want to be a bother

_[Freckles has left the chat.]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry about Yamaguchi, we'll get that arc soon enough! Uh, two weeks actually, I just remembered how my chapters are structured. Anyways, no worries, I promise! Anxiety is a bitch:(
> 
> So, yeah, my schedule has gone to shit, but I'm spending today trying to update as much as I can bc I'm finally not having a mental breakdown hell yeah! My med dose got upped, so I'm starting to feel a little mentally healthier again, and hopefully next month will be a little more successful. Anyways, it's only 6:40 a.m. for me, so like...we got time yeah boi
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has: gay awakenings, truth or dare, sickly sweet pet names, and a good deal of secondhand embarrassment.
> 
> Sorry that my schedule has gotten irregular xkhzdh I've been fighting my mental health a lot lately

“I think we’re going to skip anything that might require physical closeness for now,” Shigeru announced upon arriving back inside, hand still clasping Kyoutani’s. “Why don’t we eat some dinner, and then we can maybe just talk for a bit? We’ll play Truth or Dare when it gets later.”

Everyone moved onto the kitchen, so Shigeru looked at Kyoutani to make sure he was okay.

“Ken-chan, we can go back out if–”

“No.” He pulled out his phone and his resting frown turned into a scowl. “Shit. I need to call Tada-chan. He’s having a bad night.”

Shigeru had no clue who that was meant to be, but he nodded. “Sure, yeah, do that. I’ll get you a bowl.”

“Thanks.” Kyoutani squeezed his hand before letting go and making a break for the door.

“Is he okay?”

Shigeru jumped at the sudden appearance of his mother. “Yeah. One of his friends from another school is having a bad night, so he’s calling to check up on him.”

She smiled. “He’s such a sweet boy, isn’t he?”

He blushed and looked away. “Yeah, a regular prince charming, Mom.”

“Don’t let him go.”

 

“At the ripe old time of half midnight,” Kindaichi began, then frowned. “Ah, fuck it. I’m just not Makki or Mattsun.”

“Or as Yacchan calls them, Matsukawa and his bubblegum bitch,” Kunimi sighed in boredom.

Watari snorted. “Yacchan is a godsend.”

“ _That’s what I said_!” Shigeru gasped, jumping up. “Granted, it was because she told Ken-chan to suck my–”

“ _Shi-chan_!” Kyoutani whined, hitting him in the stomach.

“ _Oof_ ,” he grunted, but he flashed a shit-eating grin anyways. “You sounded like Oikawa-san just no– _ow_!”

Kyoutani tackled him to the floor this time. “Say that again, Shigeru, I swear to god!” He pinned Shigeru’s arms over his head.

“ _YousoundlikeOikawa_!”

“TRUTH OR DARE, THAT’S WHAT WE’RE PLAYING NOW.” Watari pried Kyoutani off of Shigeru, panting with the effort. “God, I swear, you’re going to kill each other one day.”

“I have one,” the first-year setter said. “Kyoutani-senpai, truth or dare?”

Kyoutani frowned. “Dare?”

“It’s a long one, senpai.” Kawamoto actually smirked. _This one’s ballsy._ “I dare you to avoid fighting with Yahaba-senpai for the rest of the night.”

“What?” Kyoutani huffed. “Are you kidding me?”

“Don’t think you can do it?” Shigeru sang, sliding next to him again.

“What if he antagonizes me?”

“Can’t fight him.”

The whole team started laughing at that, though none quite as much as Kindaichi.

“I’m going to die. Kindaichi, truth or fucking dare?” Kyoutani growled.

“T-truth,” the second-year squeaked, suddenly terrified of what his senpai had in store for him. “Sorry for laughing!”

Kyoutani growled, and Shigeru could practically _hear_ the moral dilemma in his head. “I’ll get you next time. For now: how long did you pine for Kunimi before you confessed?”

“He didn’t confess,” Kunimi corrected, slowly descending onto Kindaichi’s lap. “Get serious, senpai.”

“Like two years,” Kindaichi said as soon as his boyfriend finished talking. “Wait, wait…” He counted on his fingers, frowning. “Yeah. Two years.”

Kunimi looked up. “What?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.”

“Aw,” Shigeru sang. “So cute.”

 

As more truths and dares were dealt out, mostly on the innocent level, Shigeru continued to test Kyoutani’s patience. The idea that he could push his ace’s buttons without consequence, and he’d just watch him get more and more aggravated…it was embarrassingly exhilarating.

It wasn’t like he was going _super_ out of his way, but sometimes when something funny happened, he’d lightly jab Kyoutani in the ribs – right where he discovered that Kyoutani was a little ticklish. When Kyoutani growled about one thing or another, Shigeru would whisper something in his ear to shut him up.

It was fun. It was _really_ fun, the redder and more flustered and embarrassed Kyoutani got. Shigeru was _really_ pushing his luck. He knew it. He accepted it. Ah, but the death would _so_ be worth it.

“Shi-chan, truth or fucking dare,” Kyoutani huffed. He was clearly losing patience.

Shigeru leaned against him and grinned. “It loses its bite when you call me a cute pet name, Ken-chan. By the way, when did we start doing this?”

“Few hours ago?” Kyoutani guessed. “Answer the fuckin question.”

“Hmm…dare.” He turned his head so that his nose touched Kyoutani’s cheek.

Kyoutani turned, nose to nose with him, absolutely scowling. “Call Oikawa, and tell him in great detail about the crush you used to have on him.” He backed up and looked at Kawamoto. “Does that count as a fight?”

Kawamoto shook his head. “Nope, not at all, senpai! That was perfectly valid!”

Shigeru’s stomach dropped at that dare. “Oh, no. I can’t. Kenta, please.”

Kyoutani shrugged and leaned back on his hands. “You started this war when you decided my dare meant you had to antagonize me. Call him. I know he’s still on your speed dial.”

“I hate you so fucking much,” Shigeru muttered, pulling out his phone. There was absolutely no way he could do this, but there he was, doing this. It was terrible.

Despite how late it was, Oikawa answered almost immediately. Shigeru put it on speaker.

_“Yahoo, Haba-chan~!”_

“Hey, Oikawa-san.”

_“Is this an apology~ phone call, perhaps?”_

Shit. He’d totally forgotten about that fight. “A little bit, yes.” He could probably use that to help, anyways. “Senpai, I never meant to get so angry with you. I was really angry with myself, and I’m sorry.”

_“Oh, I know that, Haba-chan. But you have to understand, it really hurts when your favorite kouhai suddenly confesses some of their lower opinions of you.”_

“I know,” he mumbled, “and I am sorry, Oikawa-san. I wish I could say all of it was because I envied you – even in the face of loss, you never let down the team. We always believed in you, and we would follow you anywhere.”

_“You were upset you didn’t get to Nationals, because you were jealous of me…not getting to Nationals? Haba-chan, that doesn’t make sense.”_

“You’re right,” he agreed. “This goes beyond admiration for your skills and wishing that I could be like you. I was angry, because when I dropped on that court, I _knew_ I’d let you down.” _Oof, way too honest for midnight._

Kyoutani’s eyes were wide as he listened, just waiting to see how this all turned out.

 _“Oh, Shigeru.”_ Shigeru tried not to flinch at the use of his given name, but it still sounded so nice on his mentor’s tongue. _“You didn’t let me down. None of you did. You fought hard, and I know you’ll get them next time. You’re a very strong leader.”_

“Thank you, senpai.” He actually felt a little good about that, but what he was dared to admit was just going to ruin it. “I think I’ve come to terms with why disappointing you is such a terrifying thought.”

Kyoutani nodded, and Watari gave an encouraging thumbs up.

_“Yeah? Why’s that, Haba-chan?”_

“Until recently, I…sort of…had a really big crush on you and at the tournament there might have still been residual feelings so my outburst was more about me than you and I was completely out of line and I’m really sorry.”

 _“Haba-chan, slow down.”_ He could hear the smile in Oikawa’s voice, the restrained laughter. _“Oh, I’m sorry. That certainly makes sense, though, I will give you that. So, the question is, was it Kindaichi or Watari who dared you to phone me?”_

“It was Kyoutani,” he mumbled, “but the worst part is that I was telling the truth.”

 _“Oh! I know_ that _, Haba-chan. I also know you’d never tell me that of your own accord.”_ This time, Oikawa didn’t hold back the laugh.

Shigeru kicked Kyoutani next to him. “Well, now you know. Though, I get the sense you already knew, which is absolutely horrifying.”

_“Give KyouKen-chan my best, Haba-chan. And you have my blessing.”_

“Blessing?” he repeated. “For what?”

_“Oh~. You know what for, Haba-chan.”_

“Senpai–”

_“Toodles!”_

Shigeru stared at his phone as the call ended. “What the heck just happened?”

“A lot of embarrassing things that you deserve right now,” Watari replied, clapping him on the back. “Nice performance, captain. I can’t believe you hadn’t apologized to him yet.”

“I forgot,” Shigeru admitted. “I’m such a bad person, oh my god.”

“You had a concussion. Memory loss happens,” Kyoutani offered.

“Okay, well, anyways, Kunimi, truth or dare?”

 

After the retrospective confession to Oikawa, the team decided that just about anything was fair game, now.

The first-years had confessed a lot of their secrets and feelings, and the setter and spiker even shared a quick kiss, at the first-year libero’s amusement. Everyone found out _way_ too much about Kunimi and Kindaichi’s sex life, and Shigeru found himself going into detail about things he never even permitted himself to think about on his own.

Now, most of the first-years were asleep, and Kunimi was hardly playing anymore. It was getting late, and they were all getting more absurd.

“Hey, Kindaichi-san, truth or dare?” Shigeru was pretty sure that Kawamoto was going to be the death of all of them.

“Truth,” Kindaichi chose. He seemed to like to bounce between the options.

“What do you think about when you and Kunimi-san are getting down and dirty?”

Kunimi snorted. Kindaichi flushed. “I – I think about Akira.”

“Sure, but what else?”

Kindaichi buried his face in his hands. “Sometimes…thoughts of Iwaizumi-senpai have crossed my mind?”

Kunimi burst out laughing, which was surprising since he was usually so nonresponsive. “Yuuta, oh my god.”

“I could’ve gone my whole life without knowing that,” Watari complained. He had removed himself from the game for the most part since it started to get like that. “Why? Yuutarou, why?”

“He’s so–”

“Not why do you think about him during sex, you dolt!” Watari threw a pillow at him. “Shigeru, save me.”

Kindaichi flushed a deeper red. “Whatever! Kyoutani-senpai! Truth or dare?!”

“Dare,” Kyoutani replied cautiously. He and the second-year were caught in a bit of a war, after all.

“I dare you…to French your choice of Watari-san or Yahaba-san. For thirty seconds.” Kindaichi grinned. “I’m not going down in embarrassment alone tonight!”

“I feel no shame after one a.m.,” Shigeru argued, pointing at the clock. He was a bit delirious with exhaustion, but _oh_ , he was loving this. Part of him hoped that Kyoutani would choose him.

“I volunteer as tribute,” Watari declared, shooting a pointed look at Shigeru. He felt like his best friend might as well have just punched him. “We all know that if I let you kiss Shigeru, there’d be problems.”

“Like what?” Kyoutani was suddenly bristling, which made Shigeru curious.

“Look, he’s been antagonizing you all night. We’ll either have to watch you two go at it or tear each other’s throats out from pent up tension,” Watari reasoned.

Shigeru was secretly glad he left out the obvious, _plus, you two have real feelings involved, and that’s messy._

God bless Watari Shinji, the new team mom, stepping up.

The kouhais whooped for them, but Shigeru started remembering that this was going to be Kyoutani’s first kiss. He knew that it was stupid to be jealous of Watari, and he wasn’t. It was more like he couldn’t stand to look as his best friend and the guy he liked awkwardly had their tongues in each other’s mouths for way too long.

“Gee, senpai, you seem upset,” Kindaichi observed. “Interesting.”

“I’ll get you,” Shigeru muttered. “It might be in a dare. It might be in a truth. It might even be next week during volleyball practice. Watch out.”

Kindaichi paled. “Hey, it’s been thirty seconds!”

Kyoutani instantly pushed Watari away. “Sorry, Shinji.”

Watari wiped his mouth and shrugged. “It’s whatever. No worse than Shigeru, anyhow.”

“Hey!” Shigeru gasped, feigning offense. “I would hope what we had was better than whatever passionless spit swap display _that_ was.”

“Shi-chan, truth or fucking dare?”

Shigeru froze. He’d been expecting Watari to say something, but Kyoutani was moving the game right along. “Truth…?”

“Since what _we_ just had was apparently a ‘passionless spit swap display’, what was _your_ kiss with Shinji? What did you feel about it?”

Shigeru gaped at him. There was no way, no _fucking way_ , that he was asking him that right now. No. It wasn’t happening. Kyoutani was not trying to tease him about the possibility that he may have once had a crush on Watari. They weren’t going there, not for something so shallow and short-lived. Nu-uh. Nope. Not doing it.

“Let me remind you of the forfeit from earlier, senpai,” Kindaichi murmured. “If you don’t tell him the truth, you have to eat three spoonfuls of salt.”

 _Ah, fuck._ “I felt some gay things,” Shigeru replied slowly. “Short-lived, shallow attraction, but I’d be… _lying_ if I tried to say that I wasn’t…into it. It was, after all, my gay awaken–”

“It was your what now?” Watari interrupted, eyes wide. “ _I thought that was Oikawa_!”

_Oh shit, oh shit, abort, abort, mission failed, go home, oh SHIT, ABORT, ABORT–_

Then, Watari started to laugh. Honest to god, hysterical laughter. “I wish you’d told me! I feel so bad now that I know just how much I was indulging you before then. I’m so sorry!”

Shigeru was certain he was a tomato. “N-no, it’s all good!” He waved his hands in front of his face. “It really was very short-lived! Hardly even made it past the twenty-four-hour mark!”

Watari bit his lip to stop laughing. “Well, that was forever ago, but I’m still sorry.”

“It’s really okay, Shinji,” Shigeru promised him. “Still nothing compared to my kiss with Oikawa-san.”

Kyoutani scoffed. “Get a grip.”

“Kawamoto,” Shigeru said, addressing the first-year, “truth or dare?”

The setter grinned. “Truth.”

“What’s your biggest secret?” Then, quieter, “Ya nosy lil pest.”

Kawamoto just giggled. “Ah, sorry, senpai. Though, I do take credit for the fact that Kyoutani-senpai hasn’t thrown you against a wall.”

“Nah, that’s my thing,” Shigeru argued, “but go on?”

He took a deep breath, and Shigeru wondered what was so dramatic in the eyes of the sixteen-year-old. “I’m a trans guy.”

Shigeru tilted his head, just a little. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”

“I’ve been on T since the beginning of the school year, and I’ve been binding since junior high. I’m just glad Seijoh let me apply as a boy, you know?” Kawamoto smiled. “And the fact that I get to play on the boys’ team this year is awesome!”

“I watched last year’s team play at your junior high,” Shigeru remembered. “I don’t remember seeing a Kawamoto Takuya.”

He shook his head. “You wouldn’t have. You would’ve seen a Kawamoto Taiko if you watched the girls’ team. I – I really hated that they wouldn’t let me on the boys’ team, but it was different at the small town junior high, you know?”

“Thank you for telling us, Kawa-kun. Especially if it’s your biggest secret,” Shigeru added.

“Well, yeah! I mean, why tell people? At Seijoh, I’m just a guy. Nothing to add to it. Everyone just sees me as Takuya. That’s how I like it.” After a beat, he asked, “Don’t tell coach? I don’t know how he’d feel.”

Shigeru waved him off. “I would never. I mean, how do you think he’d feel finding out the entire team is queer?”

“He probably knows,” Watari snorted. “I mean, do we really hide it that well?”

“Touché.”

 

Kindaichi was back up with a mostly uneventful truth this time around, so he turned to Kyoutani. “Truth or dare?”

Kyoutani glared. “Dare.”

Kindaichi frowned, clearly at a loss. That gave Shigeru an idea. He pulled Kindaichi down and whispered in his ear, “Dare him to call Iwaizumi-san and confess that he gave him his gay awakening.”

Kindaichi’s eyes widened. “Evil, Yahaba-san. I like it. Honestly, I respect you so much more now.” He turned back to Kyoutani. “I dare you to call Iwaizumi-senpai and tell him about how he gave you your gay awakening.”

Kyoutani paled. “No. No. Fuck no.”

“ _Or_ ,” Kindaichi continued, “you can give Yahaba a lap dance. Your pick!”

Kyoutani muttered to himself as he pulled out his phone. Shigeru, on the other hand, fell in a fit of giggles. This was just priceless, honestly.

 _“Kyoutani? Are you alright?”_ Iwaizumi sounded groggy and concerned, which made Shigeru feel a little guilty. But like, only a little.

“Hello, Iwaizumi-san. I’m fine, don’t worry. I just was – erm – thinking?” Shigeru gave Kyoutani a thumbs up. “Yeah. Thinking.”

_“At…two in the morning? Is this going to be a long talk?”_

“Possibly?”

There was some shuffling on the other end before Iwaizumi spoke again. _“Sorry, got up to go to Oikawa’s kitchen so I didn’t wake him up. What’s going on, Kyoutani?”_

“Well, I’ve been thinking about…stuff?”

Shigeru covered his mouth to hold in a snort. Kyoutani really lacked the social intelligence to know how to do this.

_“Is this about what you told me on Valentine’s?”_

Everyone was on the edges of their seats to hear what that was all about.

“Yes,” Kyoutani answered confidently. “Actually, it is.”

There was a stifled yawn, then, _“I’ll make myself some coffee. What’s on your mind, Kentarou?”_

Shigeru’s eyes widened. Did he mishear? Or did their very sexy, very buff senpai just use Kyoutani’s given name? And why did that fuel him with such a rage? Like, what was he going to do? Fight Iwaizumi Hajime? Get a fucking grip, Shigeru.

“Th-thank you, Iwaizumi.” Kyoutani threw a nervous glance to Watari, and Watari encircled his waist with a hug. “I’ve been thinking – well, I’ve been working towards coming out to more people in my life. I’ve been feeling – ya know? – I’ve been feeling better about it.”

_“Hey, that’s excellent, Ken. Are you nervous? Do you need to talk something through?”_

“I mean, I definitely do, but maybe I can do that another time. It was more… Okay, so I like someone.”

Shigeru tensed.

_“I think I know who you mean…have you told him?”_

“Not exactly. I mean, I want to, but also, I’m fuckin scared?”

Shigeru definitely felt like none of them should be hearing this, but Kyoutani didn’t seem like he could stop.

_“You know, I think he feels the same. You should talk to him, sooner rather than later. It gets…hard, when it goes to university and long-distance.”_

“You wish you’d told Oikawa-san sooner?”

 _“Don’t tell him, but like, yeah. I wish I’d even realized it sooner.”_ Iwaizumi sounded sad, which was weird.

“You’re right.” Kyoutani sighed. “But I guess what I’m trying to say is – I don’t even think I would have realized I liked this guy if I hadn’t liked someone else first.”

_“Like…the guy who made you realize?”_

“Yeah. You know?”

_“The only person I’ve ever liked was Tooru, so not really, but I think I get it.”_

“Well, I’m – ah – I guess I’m trying to – sort of – maybe? – thank you. For…being the guy…who made me realize…hey, I’m – uh – I’m super fuckin gay?”

“Bitch, me too, the fuck?” Kindaichi blurted out.

_“Was that Kindaichi?”_

Kyoutani’s eyes widened. There was sudden laughter and snorts heard on the other line, very clearly not belonging to Iwaizumi.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit–”

_“KyouKen-chan! Are you trying to steal my man?”_

“Get a fuckin grip; it’s only a former crush!” Kyoutani snapped, his face impossibly red.

Shigeru wondered if he could ever make him blush harder.

 _“Now, now; don’t go cheating on Haba-chan! I want to be the flower girl at your wedding! Goodnight, KyouKen-chan~!”_ With that, Oikawa ended the call.

The room was silent.

“Hi, excuse me, what the fuck just happened?” Kawamoto asked, raising his hand.

“I think we just got roasted by Oikawa for all being thirsty for Iwaizumi, but I can’t be sure,” Kindaichi replied, frowning.

“Yuuta, you’re so embarrassing,” Kunimi snorted.

“You love me.”

“Still embarrassing.”

Kyoutani shook his head, then glared at Shigeru. “I can’t believe you told him to dare me to do that.”

Shigeru pursed his lips. “Well, I did what I had to.”

“What, for revenge about Oikawa? Come on, he probably knew about that anyways.”

“Oh, and no one knew about your crush on Iwaizumi? Yeah, get real!”

“Maybe we should call it quits for the night?” Watari suggested. “But it was fun while it lasted.”

“So, this is the end?” Kyoutani asked, visibly shaking with anger.

“Yes.”

“Great.” He dove forward, grabbed Shigeru’s collar, and threw him against the floor. “You _asshole_!”

“Get off me, you lug!” Shigeru complained, squirming beneath him. “Let me go! Are you such a brute you can only be restrained by a dare? Or are you just so attracted to me that you had to–?”

“I should punch you in your stupid face, Yahaba!”

Shigeru rolled his eyes at Kyoutani’s raised fist. He knew very well that Kyoutani had never punched anyone in his life. He reached up and placed his hand over the fist, forcing it to open.

“Will it help if I say I’m sorry?”

“No, because you’re _not_. You always pull this shit! Pushing all my fuckin buttons!”

“And you don’t?” Shigeru challenged. “You like that you’re the only person who can piss me off.”

“Oh, yeah, like you don’t get off on throwing me against walls and getting on my last goddamn nerve!”

Shigeru shrugged the best he could in his current position. “Tension’s gotta be relived one way or another, Ken-chan.”

Kyoutani scowled harder and let him go. “Goodnight. Don’t get all fuckin snuggly like last time. And I have dibs on cuddling with Shinji. You can beg your kouhai, you needy fuck.”

Shigeru felt like he’d just been told by a spouse to sleep on the couch or something. _Ouch._

“Ken-chan–”

“Goodnight, Yahaba.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one step forward, two steps back. press f to pay your respects
> 
> (also kawamoto is my absolute fav oc so pLEASE love him)
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Yamamoto Taketora voice* You don't kiss your friends? What, are you homiephobic?
> 
> In other words, Tora 100% platonically kisses his guy friends. The girls are still a no because he's Intimidated by women
> 
> Also! Spoilers kinda for my TsukkiYama fic that's in this series but tbh it's not even that big of a deal so I'm the only one who's bothered by it

Kentarou wished he could say that the spat with Yahaba kept him tossing and turning, unable to sleep, but it didn’t. He was cuddled up to Watari, and he slept like a fucking baby. It actually made him feel guilty when he woke up.

Yahaba was already awake, writing on a piece of paper. A part of Kentarou’s mind wondered if it was a poem – a poem about him. But no, he was being stupid and selfish. That was supposed to be Yahaba’s area in their fucked up non-relationship.

Being the only two awake, Kentarou made eye contact. Yahaba nodded, setting down his pen and paper.

“Good morning, jackass,” Yahaba muttered. “Sleep well?”

“Take a fuckin guess, you fake piece of shit.”

“I’m sorry,” Yahaba said. “I know it was my fault. I am sorry. I don’t know why I always have to push your buttons like that.”

“Because you’re a fuckin sadist, Shigeru,” he snorted. “I’m sorry too. I should’ve punched you earlier in the night and lost the dare. Then, we could’ve avoided this.”

Yahaba looked at him, incredulous. “Seriously? That’s why you’re sorry? For not attacking me sooner?” He shook his head and chuckled. “You’re fucking weird.”

“Yeah, well at least–” Kentarou stopped when his phone lit up with a call. “It’s Tadashi, I’m sorry.”

“Get it, then.”

“Hello?”

_“Kenta?”_ Yamaguchi’s voice was wavering.

“Hey, Tadashi. Are you alright?”

_“I don’t know. Not much better than yesterday.”_

Yesterday’s phone call mostly had consisted of Yamaguchi crying about not being good enough while Kentarou did his best to convince him otherwise. He wasn’t sure he was the best person for this, but he would try to help.

“Is there anything I can do?”

_“I don’t know. I kind of just want to be with a friend. Is that ridiculous? Usually, I’d call Tsukki, and for things I couldn’t call him about, I’d call Hinata, but Hinata likes me so I can’t do that either.”_

Kentarou frowned. “Have you tried Yacchan?”

_“She’s with Sudou-san right now, and later she’s seeing Kiyoko-senpai. I don’t wanna intrude.”_

“Oh, Tadashi.” He shook his head. “You’re never an intrusion. I can be there in two hours?”

_“You don’t have to–”_

“Who else do you want there? I can get Futakuchi since he’s pretty far removed from the situation still, if that would help?” he offered.

_“Y-yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ken-chan.”_ Yamaguchi sniffled. _“I don’t know why this is so hard.”_

“It’s hard to realize you like someone you see all the time and not know what to say to them about it,” he reasoned. “I’ll be there as soon as possible. I’ll go get Kenji, okay? Just wait for me.”

_“Thanks. I love you so much, do you know that?”_

Kentarou smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, I love you too. Ya fuckin nerd,” he tagged on. “See you soon.”

_“Bye.”_

“Bye.” He set down his phone and glanced at Yahaba. “I have to go.”

“Go,” Yahaba agreed, nodding. “Go on. Take care of your friend.”

“I’m sorry–”

“Don’t.” Yahaba held up a hand to silence him. “We really were never good at verbal apologies. We’ll just do better next time, right?”

“Actions do speak louder than words,” Kentarou agreed.

“Right. I’ll see you?”

“See you Monday, Shi-chan.”

Yahaba brightened at the sound of that. “See you Monday, Ken-chan.”

 

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” Kentarou said when he found Futakuchi at the train station. “Come on.” He grabbed his hand and started booking it for Yamaguchi’s.

“Yeah, no problem, Kyoutani-kun. Is Yamaguchi-kun alright?” Futakuchi asked, jogging to keep up.

“Yeah. He’s just having a hard day,” Kentarou explained. “Another one. Anxiety and panic attacks usually take about two days to recover from fully, and that’s only if you don’t have another one, you know?”

“Mm. So, we’re the two going to make sure he’s okay?”

“Yes. And, for the record, in the group, you can just call us by our given names,” he added. “Kenji.”

“O-oh! Right, sure. _Kentarou_.”

“I wonder if you’re going to be the new Ken-chan, and I’ll get Kenta-kun or something,” Kentarou mused.

“No, you got it first. I’ll just be Kenji, or Kenji-chan,” Futakuchi laughed. “Is Yamaguchi, like, okay?”

Kentarou shrugged. “I think so. He just needs friends.”

“I can’t believe I’m a part of this all because I went to McDonalds one day,” Futakuchi said, shaking his head.

“Hey, maybe you can finally tell us about Aone, you know, to distract Tadashi,” Kentarou suggested.

“You’re as nosy as the rest of them, you know that, Ken?” Futakuchi shook his head. “But if you think it’ll help…I’ll _consider_ it.”

“Tadashi will probably love that – oh, here.” He tugged the Dateko captain towards the house he knew to be Yamaguchi’s. He’d only been there once before, but he was pretty sure this was it. He raised a hand and knocked.

Yamaguchi’s mother answered. “Kentarou-kun, Kenji-kun, hello! Tadashi is up in his room; go on ahead. I’m glad you were both able to make it.”

Kentarou nodded and smiled. “Thank you, Yamaguchi-san. Pardon the intrusion.”

“Pardon the intrusion,” Futakuchi repeated.

Together, they headed up to Yamaguchi’s room. The closer they got, Kentarou realized he heard faint strumming of a guitar and singing. He pushed open the cracked door to see Yamaguchi sitting on the floor, practicing a song with uncertain strums on a guitar.

“Tada-chan?”

Yamaguchi paused his playing. “Oh, you guys are here. Hi, Ken-chan. Kenji-kun.”

“What were you trying to play?” Futakuchi asked, sitting to one side while Kentarou took the other.

“It’s…a Western song, by this one band Tsukki got me into,” he replied, flushing red. “I was starting to learn it, because I wanted to learn some stuff on guitar, but I don’t think I’m very good. I dunno.”

“Play it for us,” Kentarou prompted. “I bet you’re better than you think.”

“It’s not just that – I think I’m messing up the English words,” Yamaguchi laughed.

“I’m no good at English, so I won’t even notice,” Futakuchi offered.

Yamaguchi brightened a little. “Okay…here.” He slowly started the song. “ _Oh my stomach’s tied in knots; I’m afraid of what I’ll find if you wanna talk tonight… See, the problem isn’t you, it’s me – I know, I can tell, I’ve seen it time after time…and I’ll push you away, ooh, I get so afraid._ ”

His brows furrowed in concentration, probably watching too closely how his hands were moving, but Kentarou was impressed. He’d always wanted to learn an instrument, but he really just sang (kind of).

The door creaked open again, but none of them paid it much mind as Yamaguchi continued. “ _I can’t live without you now…I can’t even live with myself…and I can’t live without you now…and I don’t want nobody else._ ”

Kentarou glanced up to see Blond Glasses Guy staring in shock.

“ _I only have myself to blame, but do you think we could start again? Cause I can’t live without you._ ” Yamaguchi finally looked up from the guitar, but seeing the new person in the room, he shrieked. “Tsukki?!?”

Tsukishima coughed awkwardly. “Um, hi, Yamaguchi. Auntie sent me up?”

“She – she – she…” Yamaguchi shook his head, tried and failed to smile. “Tsukki!”

“I’m sorry, I interrupted something.” Tsukishima started to turn around.

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi jumped up and grabbed his arm. “No! No, okay, so these are my friends, my good friends, they’re talking to me because I had a hard time and–”

“You had to call people from other cities?” Tsukishima’s voice was softer than Kentarou expected when regarding Yamaguchi.

“I didn’t want you to worry?”

“Shut _up_ , Yamaguchi, I was already worried,” Tsukishima snapped. “I’m sorry. I’ll go.”

“Wait, Tsukki–!”

Tsukishima pulled his arm free and started for the stairs. Kentarou growled, standing up and running after him. At the front door, he grabbed Tsukishima’s arm.

“The fuck is your problem, Glasses?”

Tsukishima scoffed. “Whatever, Mad Dog. Go comfort your friend.”

“Dumbass, he wasn’t trying to get rid of you.”

“He didn’t want me there. I’m sure you know why, even if I don’t. Now, goodbye–”

Kentarou rolled his eyes and slammed Tsukishima against the door. “If you don’t talk to him like a normal fucking person, I swear to god, I’ll tear you to shreds.”

“True to your name, Mad Dog,” Tsukishima snorted, pushing Kentarou’s hand off him. “But everyone knows that a barking dog won’t bite.”

“You’re a shitty bastard, Glasses. I don’t know what he sees in you.” Kentarou turned around. “Though I’m sure I’m about to get a fucking earful about it. You don’t deserve him. He’s too kind.”

“I _know_ that,” Tsukishima snapped. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Kentarou waited until the door opened and shut before heading back upstairs.

Futakuchi gaped at him. “What did you do?”

He shook his head and took a seat next to Yamaguchi again, putting an arm around the second-year. “Told him to stop being a coward and come back. He didn’t listen.”

“Such a fucking coward,” Futakuchi muttered, glaring out the window like Tsukishima could see any of them.

“Guys, come on. He doesn’t know how to handle feelings,” Yamaguchi whispered. “He’s doing his best, but he feels bad that he can’t help.”

“Oh, and we can?” Kentarou pointed out. “It’s not about being able to help! He’s got two fuckin ears! He could sit his ass on your goddamn carpet and _listen_!”

Yamaguchi sighed. “You’re lucky that you and Yahaba started out hating each other, because falling in love with your best friend is decidedly the worst.”

Futakuchi nodded. “Especially when they’re not good with expressing feelings, so you don’t really know how to start up the conversation?”

“Yeah, exactly.” Yamaguchi tilted his head. “Is Aone-san like that?”

Futakuchi shrugged. “He’s – well, he’s actually quite expressive in his own way. But I think he likes someone else, anyways, so I don’t usually push the topic. That’s all.”

“Shouyou?” Yamaguchi guessed.

Kentarou’s eyes widened, but Futakuchi just nodded. “Yeah, they’ve got this whole friendly rival thing going for them. Though, funny thing, knowing Hinata-kun likes _you_. And you like Tsukishima, and Tsukishima doesn’t like anybody.”

Yamaguchi shot finger guns. “Ye, that’s the situation. I wonder who likes you, and who likes them,” he snorted.

“Well, Yahaba thinks I do,” Kentarou admitted. “And Watari thinks Yahaba likes me.”

“What is this, _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_?” Yamaguchi shook his head. “Who likes Yahaba?”

“I do, dumbass,” Kentarou reminded him.

“I’m so confused,” Futakuchi said. “Why does he think you like me?”

“Fuck if I know, no offense.”

“None taken, trust me.”

“We’re a mess,” Yamaguchi sighed. “A big fucking mess.”

“I can’t believe you really swear,” Kentarou laughed.

“I hang out with _Tsukishima Kei_ , how could I not?”

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Kentarou said firmly. “You’re so sweet and kind and beautiful and he doesn’t fuckin deserve you.”

Yamaguchi shook his head. “I don’t deserve him. He’s so talented and smart and he’s a good listener and he’s always there when I ask him to be.”

“He’s not here now,” Kentarou argued. “I just don’t get it.”

“He stands up for me,” Yamaguchi sighed. “You know, on a fem day? Since I was getting made fun of by the guys in second year? He came to school wearing the girls’ uniform too, so I wouldn’t have to be alone. He got the whole team to do it, too.”

Kentarou opened his mouth, but words failed him. That was actually surprisingly nice.

“When we first met, he stopped a group of kids from beating me up,” Yamaguchi continued. “And when I was coming out? You remember how hard that was?”

Kentarou nodded. Yamaguchi talked a lot in the chat about it.

“Well, Tsukki was there every step of the way. He doesn’t hold me when I cry or anything like that! He just…tells me to get up and get over it.”

“That’s insensitive!” Kentarou insisted.

“No!” Yamaguchi shook his head. “Didn’t you see it with Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san? It’s not about sensitivity. It’s just about believing in the other person to be strong. So we don’t coddle each other. We tell each other to get up and get over it, because we know the other is stronger than that.”

Kentarou blinked, a little in shock. “Oh.”

“Yeah! _Oh_. You shouldn’t give him so much shit, you know? He really does try to do the right thing when it’s serious, okay?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know, Ken-chan. I know! And it’s okay. I know not everyone has friends in this way.”

“It’s how I am with Yahaba, though, which makes me a fuckin hypocrite. I’m sorry.” Kentarou put an arm around him. “What do you want us to do?”

 

At lunch on Monday, Kentarou noticed unease between himself and Yahaba. He rolled his eyes and reached over for the captain’s hand. When Yahaba noticed, he eagerly laced their fingers, clinging to him like a lifeline.

“Are you okay?” Kentarou whispered.

“I wasn’t sure if you were still mad,” Yahaba replied, shifting closer to him. “I didn’t want to do anything stupid.”

“Well, there’s still plenty of time for that,” he joked. “For example, you could throw me against the wall over something stupid and pretend to be mad.”

“Who says I’m pretending to be mad?” Yahaba gasped.

“Kinky,” Watari snickered, biting into his rice ball.

“Shut up,” Yahaba groaned. “Let me _live_.”

Kentarou laughed, ready to agree with Watari, when his phone buzzed in his pocket. “Oh.”

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

_[Ace added Kaori to the group.]_

**Ace:** every1 say hello to this cutie second-year manager from Fukurodani!

**Kaori:** hey guys!!!

**Senpai:** omg omg I remember u ur so cute hello!

**Kaori:** ah, tanaka-san?

**Senpai:** SHE REMEMEBRES

**Guardian:** omg hiii Suzumeda-chan!

**Kaori:** hi haha

**Kaori:** I feel out of place with my normal name ahh

**Yachi:** bruh you and me both

**Kaori:** Yachi Hitoka?

**Yachi:** yes omg!

**Yachi:** finally another girl :P

**Yachi:** we got two genderfluid kids but no other girls

**Kaori:** ive come to save you<3

**Yachi:** you’re amazing

**Kaori:** haha!

**Puppy:** nice to meet you, Suzumeda-chan.

**Kaori:** and you are??

**Puppy:** Kyoutani Kentarou, from Seijoh

**Yachi:** you can call him Kenta or Ken-chan

**Puppy:** yea that’s fine

**Freckles:** oh hi Kaori!

**Kaori:** hey yamaguchi!

**Futakuchi:** wait who are you?

**Kaori:** Fukurodani’s manager!

**Kaori:** it’s a school in Tokyo

**Futakuchi:** whoa did you ever work with the wing spiker Bokuto Koutarou??!

**Kaori:** yeah I worked with Bokuto-san last year!

**Futakuchi:** whoa so cool!

**Yachi:** haha I forget spikers idolize him I just keep remembering what a dork he is

**Kaori:** dude me too

**Kaori:** wait you’re friends with him as well as Akaashi-senpai?

**Yachi:** ye

**Kaori:** wild

**Yachi:** all thanks to Shimizu tbh

**Kaori:** OMG HOW IS SHE I missed you girls sm since training camp last year

**Yachi:** ah she’s well!

**Kaori:** good, good!!

**Futakuchi:** they’re like long lost cousins catching up

**Ace:** isn’t it adorable?!?!

**Kaori:** don’t you have a vice-captian to ogle

**Ace:** I can’t believe you’ve done this?

**Kaori:** xx

**Yachi:** she’s my hero sorry tora

**Senpai:** you two need fun names

**Senpai:** U 2 KENJI>3

**Senpai:** * <3

**Futakuchi:** I was wondering what the fuck that was meant to be

**Senpai:** kenta help us brainstorm!

**Puppy:** no im at lunch

**Senpai:** code for cuddling w his boyfriend

**Futakuchi:** oh good you two made up?

**Senpai:** they were FIGHTING?

**Puppy:** so how’s aone, kenji, still hot or like what

**Futakuchi:** fuck you

**Puppy:** no thanks I’m spoken for, unofficially

**Futakuchi:** why did I tell you any of this

**Puppy:** because it was better than letting Tadashi suffer?

**Freckles:** if you think it’s bad when tora talks about shou, you should HEAR how kenji goes on about Takanobu omg

**Kaori:** I literally cannot wait

**Kaori:** is everyone here gay/queer as well as awesome

**Guardian:** yee

**Kaori:** wild I belong here

**Yachi:** ANOTHER LESBIAN?

**Kaori:** YOU TOO?

**Yachi:** OMG I FINALLY HAVE A LESBRO

**Kaori:** OMG THIS IS WHAT IVE ALWAYS WANTED

**Yachi:** AHHH

**Puppy:** destined best friends

**Senpai:** like us <3

**Puppy:** no like me and kenji

**Senpai:** !!!!!rude

**Futakuchi:** ha ive been here for a week and uve already been replaced ryuu

**Futakuchi:** next step is to steal chikara from you

**Senpai:** u wouldn’t!

**Futakuchi:** but I could

**Guardian:** um HELLO why am I being ignored as ur plonic broulmate?

**Yachi:** you mean platonic

**Guardian:** that’s the bitch

**Senpai:** im sorry yuu its just I thought kenta and I had something speicial/

**Ace:** will no one fight for me

**Freckles:** ill fight for you tora you can be my soulmate

**Ace:** omg thank you <3

**Freckles:** <3

 

Kentarou chuckled to himself as he watched the conversation go on before he noticed Yahaba’s hand leaving his. He glanced over and saw a younger girl standing before him, bowing and holding out a bento.

“Yahaba-senpai! I made you this, because I really like you a lot!”

Kentarou set down his phone, watching this unfold with curiosity.

“Well, thank you–” Yahaba started.

“There’s also a note! Please…accept my confession!”

Yahaba tensed. “I – ah. I’m sorry. What’s your name?”

“Nanako Kana!” she squeaked out.

“Nanako-chan,” Yahaba sighed, “thank you. But I cannot accept your confession. I’m sorry.”

Now, Kentarou was _really_ interested.

“W-why?” she asked, risking a look up at him.

Yahaba bit his lip, and Kentarou looked away, because that was stupidly cute. “Well, you see, Nanako-chan, I already like someone else. I’m really hoping he’ll be my boyfriend, when the time is right.”

“O-oh! I – I’m sorry, Yahaba-san!”

“No, you don’t need to apologize. I really do appreciate it, and I am sorry that I can’t accept your confession.” Yahaba gave an awkward bow.

“N-no! It’s okay! Good luck with the boy you like!”

Once she left, Kentarou glanced at Yahaba. “So, this boy you like…”

“Don’t get smart, Ken-chan.”

He snickered and took Yahaba’s hand again. “You know, he’d be a real idiot if he–”

“Kentarou–”

“–accepted your confession. Does he know what a prissy asshole you can be?”

Yahaba smacked his shoulder. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Are you going to talk to _him_ like that? Oh, I know, it’s Watari, right?”

“Fuck _off_.” Yahaba was laughing too, though. “What was going on in your chat?”

“Mm, we got an eighth member,” he explained. “Some girl from Tokyo.”

“Oh, that’s neat.”

“Yeah,” Kentarou agreed, “Yacchan’s really glad to have another girl, _and_ another lesbian.”

“Ooh, good for her.”

“Yeah, and Kaori seems like a lot of fun. I’m really hoping we all meet up in person some time.”

Yahaba nodded and smiled, then set his head on Kentarou’s shoulder. “Your friends sound awesome.”

“Thanks,” he laughed. “They really are. I love them a lot.”

“Except Futakuchi still puts me off, but whatever.”

“You just hate him because you thought he was on a date with me,” Kentarou scoffed. “Jealous asshole.”

“I wasn’t _jealous_. He’s just another captain, and he’s from _Dateko_. I mean, they hate us!”

Kentarou shrugged. “I think this feud only exists between you two, actually. I think everyone from Dateko seems alright.”

 

Luckily, Kentarou got his wish. After a month of having all eight members in the chat, everyone finally found a weekend where they could get together and hang out. Tanaka offered to host, so everyone met up there.

“Ken-chan!”

Kentarou jumped when the door was opened by a short blonde woman instead of Tanaka. “H-hello, Saeko-san!” He bowed.

“Kenta, how many times do I have to tell you!” she laughed. “You can call me Nee-chan!”

He nodded. “Y-yes. Hello, Nee-chan.”

“ _Nee-chan_ ,” Tanaka’s familiar voice whined. “You’re scaring Kenta!”

“Scaring this punk? You’re kidding me!” Saeko slapped his back affectionately. Kentarou almost fell over.

“Come on,” Tanaka sighed, shaking his head. “Tadashi and Yuu are already here.”

“Great,” Kentarou said, smiling awkwardly at Saeko before following Tanaka to his room.

“ _Ken-chan_!” Nishinoya cried, flinging themself at Kentarou. “It’s been forever!”

Kentarou squeezed the libero. “Maybe because you didn’t come when I went to comfort Yamaguchi. Or when she came to comfort me. Come to think of it, you never come when I’m there.” He backed up. “Yuu-chan, you must hate me!”

Noya gasped and cupped Kentarou’s face in their hands. “Hate? No, no! I love you; you know I do!” They pulled Kentarou’s face down and kissed his forehead. “You are my one true love.”

“What about _me_?” Tanaka whined.

“You tried to leave me for Kenta first!”

Kentarou laughed and shrugged them off, going to hug Yamaguchi. “Hey, Tadashi.”

“Hi, Kentarou,” she greeted. “Sorry; they’re being extra weird today.”

“Your lesbian lord has arrived!” announced a high-pitched voice that could only belong to Yachi.

“Yacchan!” Kentarou smiled at her. “Hey!”

“Kentarou! My husband!”

“Hitoka!”

“I’m so excited,” she cheered, bouncing up and down. “This is the first time we’ll all be in one place!”

There was a knock on the doorframe before Futakuchi stepped inside. “Hey, guys.” He looked nervous, but the group immediately took care of that.

“Kenji!” Yamaguchi hugged the Dateko captain. “Hey!”

“Hey,” Futakuchi said, loosening up a little. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too,” she agreed, squeezing him one more time.

“Do we know when Tora and Kaori are getting here?” Kentarou asked.

Tanaka glanced at his phone. “Their train just arrived at the station!”

Kentarou was a little nervous about the amount of people that would be there, but more than anything, he was excited. These were the people he’d been turning to for anything for almost a year (in Tanaka, Noya, Yamaguchi, and Yamamoto’s cases, at least). It was amazing to see them all in one place, finally.

“Ken-chan, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so smiley!” Yachi commented, jumping up to poke his cheeks. “Something good happen with Shigeru?”

“No,” he laughed. “I’m just happy to see all you guys in one place.”

“Oh my god, so are _we_!” Noya cried, coming back for more hugs.

“Maybe we can do it more over the summer holidays!” Tanaka suggested. “I mean, we really should! Ugh! I just want to be with all of you all the time!”

“Hopefully we can get together a lot over the holiday,” Futakuchi agreed. “It’ll be right after you guys go to _Nationals_ , right? Congrats, by the way.”

“Thanks!” the Karasuno four replied.

“We should totally do karaoke again!” Tanaka gasped.

“ _Oh_ my god, we should!” Noya agreed, jumping up and down.

“I’ve gotta show you what these kids sang, because they’re so fucking good!” Yachi said, pulling out her phone.

“Wait!” Yamaguchi pulled on her arm. “Wait for Kaori and Tora; they’ll wanna see this too!”

“True!” she gasped. “Alright, but you guys are going to just _die_ over Ryuu and Chika!”

“Karaoke sounds fun,” Kentarou admitted, “but I wouldn’t be caught dead singing.”

“What?” Tanaka shook his arm. “I bet you’re awesome!”

“I’m really not,” he laughed awkwardly.

“Neither am I,” Futakuchi agreed, “but I would sing if you did, to make you feel better.”

“I’ve got this _feeling_ y’all are both full of shit,” Yachi argued. “But hey. Whatever. Talk shit about yourselves.”

“I will, thanks!” Kentarou joked.

“No! Talk shit, get hit!” Yachi punched him in the gut.

“ _Fuck_ , Yacchan!” he whined.

Futakuchi laughed. “Is she seriously that strong?”

“She could take us all out,” Noya confirmed.

“Jeez!”

“Hey,” Kentarou said, frowning down at Yachi. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

She paled. “Hah? Where’d that come from?!”

“You seem off,” he explained. “Did something happen with Sudou? Or Shimizu?”

She shrugged. “Let’s wait until everyone arrives, okay? I just…don’t want to go there right now.”

“Okay, then we won’t. Sorry,” he added.

“No, you’re good, Ken-chan. Thanks for caring.”

 

“TORA!”

“RYUU!”

The aces embraced in the center of the room. Tanaka grabbed Yamamoto’s cheeks and planted a kiss right on his lips.

“It’s been _forever_ , man!”

“So long!” Yamamoto wailed in agreement.

Kentarou rolled his eyes and waved. “Hi, Tora.” He’d only met the guy once, but he was always a bundle of energy.

“Kenta!” Yamamoto ran to him, and Kentarou found himself also getting a kiss in greeting. “It’s been even longer, what the heck!”

Kentarou laughed and shook his head, watching the alarm on Futakuchi’s face when the same greeting was offered to him.

“Hitoka-chan?”

“Kaori-chan!”

Kaori hugged everyone as well, even though she was the newest addition and none of them except for Tora knew her in real life.

“Now, Yacchan, will you confide in us?” Noya asked, sitting on the floor and resting their chin on their hands.

She sighed and flopped on Tanaka’s bed. “Yeah, yeah. It’s about me and Sudou.”

“Oh, no, you didn’t break up, did you?” Kaori fretted.

“No!” Yachi shook her head. “Nothing like that. But it’s been…different.”

“How so?” Kentarou prompted.

“Well, ever since we…you _know_ …had…” She turned red and hid her face. “ _Sex_. It changed everything! It’s like, there’s this sudden clinginess that wasn’t there before. She’s…everywhere?”

Tanaka nodded. “She even comes to our practices since she retired from the girls’ team.”

“And I love being around her, but I feel…you know?” Yachi sighed. “I’m a bad girlfriend, right?”

“No,” Yamaguchi assured her. “Not at all. You’re allowed to want personal space.”

“You’ve gotta talk to her,” Kaori suggested. “Ha! I say that like I know anything, but I’ve never had a girlfriend.”

“I tried, but…it feels like she doesn’t want to have that conversation? And I know it’s been hard for her, because she’s accepting that she may never go pro, and that’s the only thing she’s ever wanted. I don’t know. Everything just feels like walking on broken glass, you know?”

Kentarou joined her on the bed and put an arm around her. “I’m sorry, Yacchan.”

“It fucking _sucks_.” She sighed, then turned to him. “Make me feel better! Tell me about you and Yahaba!”

Kentarou felt his face get hot. He shrugged. “No different from usual? Hand-holding and fist-fighting.”

“Well, damn, Kenta! That doesn’t make me feel better! Why aren’t you crazy kids together?”

He shrugged again. “I think we’re afraid or some shit. We haven’t always been on great terms. Besides, what if I’m misreading it? What if he doesn’t actually like me, you know?”

Futakuchi snorted. “You’re fucking kidding, right? The guy who got jealous because we posted a selfie together doesn’t like you?”

“Hey, how’s it going with Aone!” Kentarou asked, desperate to divert the attention.

Futakuchi sighed. He never talked about his problems in the chat. “I dunno.”

A couple of them groaned, ready for another elusive response before he redirected, but instead–

“I think that he really likes Hinata-kun, even though he hasn’t exactly said so.” He shrugged and picked at the hem of his shirt. “And I really do want him to be happy. But…I want to be happy too. And I’ve liked him since our first year, so this kinda blows?”

Kaori pursed her lips and sighed before sitting next to him. “Are you two close?”

“He’s my best friend, yeah.”

“Then…you gotta tell him how you feel, Kenji.” She patted his cheek. “You’re a real catch, you know? Any guy’d be lucky to have you.”

He huffed a laugh. “Thanks, Kaori.”

“I’m _serious_ , you’re totally hot! Right, Tora?”

Tora gave him a thumbs up. “Total babe, Kenji.”

Futakuchi snorted. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Why haven’t you told him? Isn’t Aone-san like some sort of angel or something?” Kentarou remembered.

“He _is_ ,” Futakuchi sighed. “Such a fucking angel. He’s really nice. But I’m like, not.”

“But you’re best friends, so he already knows that,” Yamaguchi pointed out. “If I can handle Tsukki, then he can handle you no problem.”

“No one’s a bigger asshole than Tsukishima,” Kentarou sighed.

“Hey!” Noya gasped.

“Is he wrong, Yuu?” Tanaka pressed.

“I mean, it’s _true_ , but he shouldn’t _say it_!”

Kentarou laughed. “I’m sorry; still haven’t forgiven him since I saw him at Tadashi’s place.”

“You two are such children,” Yamaguchi groaned, shaking her head. “You know, we’re actually doing fine, now? And Hinata is getting over his silly crush on me, so everything’s extra good on that front.”

“Oh, did he say why?” Futakuchi asked. “I mean, you know, if you know?”

“He likes someone else,” Yachi interjected. “Someone who isn’t Aone-senpai; don’t worry.”

Futakuchi bit his lip but nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Okay.”

“And how do you even know Aone likes him?” Yamaguchi pressed. “Like, you can’t just assume that kind of thing! What if he thinks you like somebody else? Like one of us!”

“I – ah – well, I guess I wouldn’t know.”

“Exactly! You should tell him!”

“What about you, Tadashi?” Futakuchi shot back. “Like, shouldn’t you tell Tsukki, if you’re giving this advice.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes darkened and a smirk took over her face. “Oh, no. Tsukki is being a little shit lately. He’s going to suffer. _Tsuffer_ , if you will.”

“I most certainly will not,” Futakuchi said with a snort. “What’s he doing?”

“Yacchan, you take this one!”

“He’s being all dramatic and overly supportive of her ‘relationship’ with Hinata and it’s so fucking annoying and we all want to kick his ass except it’s so flat we can’t find it,” Yachi explained in one breath.

“Well, then he probably likes her?”

“I think he’s just scared of losing his only friend,” Yamaguchi countered.

Futakuchi rolled his eyes. “Great, we’re all useless gays. Tora, what’s the Shouhei tea?”

Tora’s eyes lit up. “Well~…”

Everyone turned their attention to him.

“I hugged him after practice today! Not a bro hug either!” Tora said, grinning brightly. “And he didn’t look at me like I was a total weirdo! Kenma, on the other hand…”

“They _always_ look at you like you’re a freak,” Noya reminded him.

“True! But it doesn’t even matter!” Tora flopped onto his back and sighed longingly. “I love him so much, you guys.”

“We can tell,” Yamaguchi laughed. “Oh, you should ask him out soon.”

“I’m – I’m going to.”

Everyone fell silent, then the interrogation began.

“When?”

“Oh my god, when did you decide this?”

“How are you going to tell him?”

“Where?!”

“Don’t do it at volleyball, Tora!”

“I don’t have a plan!” Tora whined. “I was thinking I’d just go in and _do it_ , yaknow?”

“I think that is a good plan,” Kentarou said with a shrug. “It’s basically my plan with Yahaba.”

“Yeah, whichever one of you pushes someone against a wall last gets to initiate the first kiss,” Noya said with a smirk.

“Oh, fuck you!” Kentarou grabbed one of Ryuu’s pillows and chucked it at their head. “I could do a proper confession, you know!”

“What would you even tell him? You hate him a little less than everyone else?” Kaori teased.

“Okay, do I even know you?” Kentarou scoffed, throwing another pillow.

“Did our affair mean nothing to you, Kenta!” she fake-wailed, fanning her face.

He snorted. “Shut up.”

“I place a thousand yen on them getting together by the end of summer holidays,” Yachi announced.

“I put five hundred yen that they’ll get together _before_ ,” Yamaguchi countered. “You could cut the romantic tension with a knife.”

“I hate all of you,” Kentarou laughed. “Come on, Yachi – show us the videos from Karasuno’s karaoke.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyways yeah that was a chapter. rad. cool. I edited it a few days ago and only really remember that tsukkiyama stuff happened and there was a squad meetup? stay tuned next week for some... *looks around* *leans in to whisper* _next gen captain shenanigans_
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My feelings on this chapter are incredibly: ahhhhHHHHHHhhHHH, however, I know that while the ending feels ~meh~ and it's a scene that's _incredibly_ self-indulgent, it does actually. Move the plot along or whatever. So no matter how embarrassed I am to post it because I feel weird. I gotta, it's actually important. Um please validate me in the comments

On the first day of summer holiday, all Shigeru wanted to do was lay around the house and do nothing. There was a week off from club activities before they started training hard for the Spring Tournament Prefectural Qualifiers, and he wanted to just chill out for that week. Then he could get together with friends and go wild.

That was thrown out the window when someone knocked on his door.

“Hello?” he said as he pulled it open.

Ennoshita Chikara stood before him. “Hey, Yahaba-kun! We’re – ah – we’re going out! To Tokyo! For – for like three days!”

Shigeru frowned. “Uh, Ennoshita-kun, I do like you. However, _what_?”

“A bunch of the captains are getting together. So…join us? I had Ryuu call Kenta and Kenta called your mom. So, pack your bags and come to Tokyo!” Ennoshita bowed. “It’ll be good for everyone to connect and make friends!”

He groaned and turned to the stairs. “Great, he was threatening to set me up with the other captains. C’mon. Might as well sit with me.”

“Great!” Ennoshita followed him to his room. “The vice-captains will be staying with Kenta-kun, so everyone will be bonding! We have to drop by there to pick up a couple of the guys on the way to the train station.”

Shigeru pulled out a bag and opened his closet. “Great. What schools are involved?”

“We’re picking up Shirabu from Shiratorizawa and Futakuchi from Dateko,” Ennoshita replied. “Then, we’ll be hanging out at Yamamoto’s from Nekoma, along with Akaashi from Fukurodani.”

“Great.”

“You don’t sound excited,” Ennoshita observed.

“I’m thrilled, Ennoshita-san.”

Ennoshita sighed and sat on his bed. “It’ll be fun! Tanaka says that Kenji and Tora are amazing, and I already know that Shirabu and Akaashi are a lot of fun. Plus, we might get to meet up with our senpais since they go to school in Tokyo.”

“Our senpais?” Shigeru paused and looked over at him. “Really?”

He nodded. “When’s the last time you saw Oikawa?”

“Well…” Shigeru felt guilty, because that would have been at the last inter-high tournament. “It’s been a while.”

“Then, don’t drag your feet! Also, we get to see Suga and Daichi again,” Ennoshita added excitedly.

“Oh, I heard you used to have a crush on Sugawara-san, right?” Shigeru snickered.

“Psh, what? Who told you that?!” Ennoshita flushed red and turned away. “Ryuu and I are very happy together.”

“Refreshing-kun is totally gorgeous, though,” Shigeru pointed out. He remembered the silver-haired man quite well from their matches.

“You used to like Oikawa,” Ennoshita accused.

“So what if I did? Oikawa-san is totally gorgeous!”

“He’s a shitty person, from what I heard.”

“Yeah, but no one knows that better than his lifelong best friend and boyfriend, so he must have some redeeming qualities?”

“Yeah, his nice ass.”

Shigeru laughed. “Alright, maybe this won’t suck.”

“Maybe?”

“This won’t suck.”

 

When Shigeru knocked on Kyoutani’s door, he expected either Kyoutani or his father to answer. Instead, it was Tanaka Ryuunosuke throwing open the door.

“Chikara!!”

Shigeru was knocked aside so that Tanaka could plant a firm kiss on Ennoshita’s lips. He averted his eyes.

“Shigeru-kun, come on inside,” Kyoutani-san greeted with a laugh.

“Thank you, Uncle. Pardon the intrusion.”

“He’s in the living room.”

Shigeru looked up from taking off his shoes. “Hm?”

“Kentarou. He’s in the living room,” he explained with a knowing smile. “Do you two have any plans for the summer holiday?”

“Volleyball, probably,” Shigeru said, standing back up. “Coach is letting us use the gym next week, but he wants us to at least rest for this week. Hmm…though we might hang out with Shinji sometime?”

“No dates, then?” Kyoutani-san prompted.

Shigeru felt like his face had just been set on fire. “ _Hah_!?”

He only laughed. “I know that I have glasses, Shigeru-kun, but I’m not blind. I can see how you look at each other.”

Shigeru stammered out something between a denial and an apology before stumbling into the living room to find Kentarou.

He was sitting on the couch next to Dateko’s blocker, and Dateko’s captain, Futakuchi, was sprawled out across both their laps. The blocker and Kyoutani were looking at something on Kyoutani’s phone, both smiling softly at whatever it was.

“Dog pictures.”

Shigeru jumped and turned towards the voice. It was a guy with dirty blond hair, stupid bangs slanting across his forehead. _Ugh. Shiratorizawa’s captain._

“Dog pictures,” the guy repeated. “It’s all they’ve been looking at, since before I got here, I’m pretty sure.”

Shigeru snorted and walked over. “Ken-chan!”

Kyoutani grunted acknowledgement but didn’t otherwise look up from his phone.

“Hello, Yahaba,” Futakuchi greeted, lifting his head. “Are we just about ready to leave?”

He nodded. “Yeah, once Ennoshita and Tanaka stop sucking face in the front yard.”

Futakuchi gagged. “Those two are so affectionate, it’s so gross.”

“You do know that you’re laying on both of our vice-captains, right?” Shigeru pointed out, frowning.

“Because we’re best friends,” Kyoutani huffed, using his free hand to pat Futakuchi’s thigh.

Shigeru suppressed a scowl with a plastic smile that he’d learned from Oikawa. “Mm. Right. Of course. How could I forget.”

Futakuchi rolled his eyes. “Well, I should grab my bag so I’m ready to leave, at least.” He rolled off the two spikers. “Yahaba, I’m assuming you know my friend, Aone Takanobu?”

Shigeru gave a tiny bow. “Hello, Aone-san. Nice to meet you.”

Aone flicked his eyes away from the screen and nodded in acknowledgement.

“Hey, everyone, ready to get going?” Ennoshita called, poking his head into the room.

“Yeah, are you done eating your boyfriend’s face?” Shigeru snorted.

Tanaka gasped, coming from behind Ennoshita and hugging him. “It was only a pure and beautiful goodbye kiss!”

“Nothing about anything you do is pure, Ryuu,” Kyoutani scoffed.

Tanaka stuck out his tongue, then turned to Futakuchi. “Kenji! Give Tora a kiss for me!”

“Do I have to?” Futakuchi asked, looking embarrassed.

Tanaka grabbed his cheeks and pecked him on the lips. “Send it to my Tokyo lover!”

Futakuchi rolled his eyes. “Fine. Kenta, I love you, but I’m not kissing Tora three times for each of us.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you to,” Kyoutani scoffed.

“Good.” Futakuchi hugged both him and Aone before turning to the group. “To Tokyo?”

“To Tokyo!” Ennoshita agreed, linking arms with Shigeru.

Shigeru glanced at Kyoutani. “So, uh, I’ll see you in a few days, then? I guess?”

Kyoutani growled and stood up. “I hate how good I’ve gotten at knowing what you’re really asking.”

“Not that good,” Shigeru shot back. He let himself be engulfed in a hug anyways. “See you.”

“Later. Don’t fight Kenji or I’ll come to Tokyo and kick both your asses,” he added.

Futakuchi and Shigeru looked at each other uncertainly. No promises were made that day.

 

A five-hour train ride wasn’t how Shigeru had anticipated spending his morning. Certainly not a five-hour train ride seated between the captains of Karasuno and Shiratorizawa, the two schools Seijoh had the biggest rivalries with. And to Ennoshita’s side, there was Futakuchi. To Shirabu’s, there was Terushima.

Seijoh had no beef with Johzenji – they’d beaten them in the previous year’s Interhigh anyways – but Johzenji might not have loved Seijoh for that same reason. Shigeru had absolutely no idea if he should try and make conversation with the intimidating guy.

Instead, he slumped down in his seat and stared out the window, hoping that this would end soon.

Ennoshita sighed and bumped into Shigeru’s shoulder. “You could try and talk to someone, you know? No need to be rivals off the court.”

Shigeru narrowed his eyes. “I don’t even know what I would say.”

“Hmm.” Ennoshita pulled out his phone. “Ryuu says you’re a poet?”

He nodded, trying not to think about how that meant Kyoutani had probably told his little friends about the poems he’d written.

“I’ve written a couple screenplays, myself,” Ennoshita continued. “And Shirabu is a major lit nerd.”

Shirabu scowled but made no attempt to argue.

“So, common ground. We like literature, writing, and language.”

Shigeru rolled his eyes. “Cool.”

“What kind of poetry do you write?” Ennoshita prompted.

He shrugged. “Whatever comes to mind. A lot of feelings. Sometimes about people. Usually about nature and volleyball.”

Ennoshita grinned. “Any about Kenta?”

Shigeru paled. “No! Of course not!”

“The main characters in my most recent screenplay are based on me and Ryuu,” he said, seeming to not hear. “And Shirabu loves romance novels and poetry collections, because they remind him of his senpai–”

“Shut up,” Shirabu muttered, sinking down in his seat. “That’s not at all why I read them, Chikara, and you know it.”

Ennoshita threw back his head and laughed. “Sure, and if I was Semi-san, I’d even believe you.”

“Tch.”

Ennoshita looked at Shigeru expectantly.

“I – I have written – well – only a couple! But yes. Love poems. About… _him_.”

Futakuchi looked around Ennoshita, grinning, suddenly intrigued. “Ooh~, got a boyfriend, Creampuff?”

“Don’t call me that,” he said immediately. “And no, he’s my vice-captain and my ace. Not my boyfriend.”

“Not _yet_ ,” Futakuchi stage-whispered.

Ennoshita snickered. “You do like him though, don’t you?”

Shigeru rolled his eyes again. “No shit.”

“So, did his sarcasm rub off on you, or vice versa?” Futakuchi pondered.

“Neither!” he snapped. “Don’t you all have your own love lives to give a damn about?”

Ennoshita laughed and put an arm around him. “What happened to the fake cheery personality you learned from your senpai?”

“Oikawa-senpai isn’t fake,” he grumbled.

“Ha!” Terushima slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from dissolving into ugly snorts. “Right, sure, and water isn’t wet.”

Even Shirabu have a huff of laughter at that.

Shigeru rolled his eyes. “I don’t see why I’m trying to charm any of you. You’re my rivals, aren’t you?”

“Maybe we want to also be your friends,” Ennoshita pointed out. “You know, Daichi-san was very close with the captains of Fukurodani and Nekoma – especially Nekoma, Karasuno’s biggest rival. There’s nothing wrong with befriending your rivals. I think it actually makes it better for when we face one another.”

Shigeru shrugged, indifferent. “Whatever.”

“It’s going to be a _long_ three days, Chikara,” Shirabu groaned, sinking further down.

“Kenjirou,” Ennoshita sighed, “you’re so not helping.”

“Have I ever?”

“No,” Terushima interrupted, shaking his head. “You have not.”

 

When they got off the train, a guy with a buzz cut and blond mohawk was awaiting them. _Yamamoto Taketora_ , Shigeru remembered. Next to him was possibly the most beautiful man on god’s great earth.

“Whoa,” he breathed, accidentally aloud.

Ennoshita laughed beside him. “That’s Akaashi Keiji, captain of Fukurodani. He’s a setter, and he’s absolutely gorgeous, which I see you noticed?”

“Whoa,” he repeated.

He was pretty sure there was a halo over Akaashi’s head, and when the setter turned to look at them, it was like slow motion. His wavy hair bounced in the light breeze, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheek when he blinked.

“He’s dating Bokuto Koutarou, the former captain,” Ennoshita added, “so don’t get attached.”

“You should’ve led with that, Chika-chan,” he mumbled, absolutely dazed.

“Holy shit,” Futakuchi breathed.

“ _Damn_ ,” Terushima agreed.

“Hm?” Shirabu turned to see what they were all gaping at before he rolled his eyes. “You guys are pathetic, you know?”

“Keiji! Tora!” Ennoshita called, waving for their attention.

The group approached the Tokyo captains.

“Hey,” Ennoshita said, hugging them both. “So, this is Shirabu Kenjirou of Shiratorizawa, Terushima Yuuji from Johzenji, Futakuchi Kenji from Dateko, and Yahaba Shigeru from Aoba Johsai. Everyone, this is Yamamoto Taketora of Nekoma and Akaashi Keiji of Fukurodani.”

Akaashi gave a shy wave before playing with his fingers, like he was nervous. It was cute. Shigeru was in love.

Yamamoto grinned. “Welcome to Tokyo! Kenji!”

“Hi, Tora,” Futakuchi greeted, allowing himself to be kissed twice.

“Alright, so we’ve got a loose plan for the next three days – Chika-chan, the itinerary? – but for now we’re heading to my place and getting to know one another. Um, you’ll have to excuse my little sister being there. She can be sort of nosy? But otherwise she’s amazing.” Yamamoto led them out of the station and towards what was apparently his neighborhood.

“Itinerary?” Terushima asked with a snort. “Really? You guys are all nerds. Why am I here?”

“Because you love it, Mr. Class Seven,” Ennoshita replied, unbothered. “Tonight should be fun. Tomorrow, we’re going to go out and see some stuff, play some volleyball. Then, the last day is when we’ll go see our senpais.”

“Did he say class seven?” Shigeru whispered to Shirabu.

The Shiratorizawa captain nodded. “Yes, he’s supposedly quite intelligent.”

_Wow._

“Hey, so you were the setter behind Bokuto Koutarou, weren’t you?!” Futakuchi started, stars in his eyes as he looked at Akaashi.

Shigeru couldn’t blame him. Akaashi was an angel among men.

“These days, he’s more the setter _beneath_ Bokuto Koutarou,” Yamamoto teased.

Akaashi rolled his eyes. “Bold of you to assume that–”

“Ack! I don’t want to know how that sentence ends!” Yamamoto decided. “Forgive me, Keiji!”

Ennoshita laughed and slung an arm around Akaashi, then he grabbed Shigeru’s hand and pulled him closer. “Bokuto-san is incredibly talented,” Ennoshita said, “though I’m sure you probably recognize the name of the number four ace spiker of Japan?”

Shigeru nodded. “I have possibly heard the name a couple times.”

“Right this way!” Yamamoto interrupted, steering the group towards a house. “I already have snacks in my room, so we’re ready to kick off the party!”

 

After a couple of hours of talking, Shigeru felt some of the tension release. He found out that Akaashi was a talented violinist as well as setter ( _swoon_ ), and that Shirabu had applied to a lot of the same colleges as him. Futakuchi complained about one of his kouhai, Koganegawa, who apparently had a tendency to be disrespectful towards his senpais.

Yamamoto waxed poetic about the beauty of his vice-captain and how well his team has been doing this year. Ennoshita fawned over his first-years and the progress they’ve all been making, as well as how excited they all were at Nationals. Terushima admitted that he was reluctant to retire, but he also wasn’t planning on taking volleyball with him to university, so it was time.

Shirabu recommended some books to them, and Shigeru bit the bullet and let them read some of his poems. Ennoshita sent them all the link to his screenplay document, which was an honor. Akaashi shared some of the photographs that he’d been taking, and Terushima told them about his novel.

Futakuchi admitted he was planning to major in history, so he didn’t have anything to show, but Terushima and Ennoshita made him promise to help them fact check in their works, and he agreed. Yamamoto played a couple of his original pieces on guitar, and Shigeru was in awe that he actually _wrote his own music_. So fucking cool.

“So, Keiji,” Terushima began, leaning closer to the setter. “What would we have to do to convince you to play something on the violin for you?”

“Well, you could _ask_ me to, Terushima-san,” Akaashi deadpanned, brow slightly cocked in amusement.

“Will you?” Shigeru blurted out, then flushed red. “I – ah! – sorry.”

Akaashi huffed a tiny laugh. “I have been learning a song with Yamamoto-san, actually.”

Yamamoto perked up. “Oh, right! And Keiji, we’ve been over this! Call me Tora!”

“Oh, is it the one you were teaching Tada-chan?” Futakuchi asked. “I love that song.”

“It is!” Yamamoto confirmed. Everyone else pretended to know what was going on. “She’s really nailing the song that comes before it on the acoustic album we’re working through, but I like this song best! But it’s incomplete with just guitar. So, I asked Keiji here to help with the violin part!”

“So cool,” Ennoshita said. “What song is it?”

“Oh!” Yamamoto pulled out his phone. “It’s this American song, I think the title means _Don’t You Ever Forget About Me_ , by the band Sleeping With Sirens?”

“Oh, Ryuu listens to them, I know that one,” he realized, looking over Yamamoto’s shoulder. “I like that one.”

“I love them,” Terushima gasped. “I bet that all of us together could make one hell of a harmony!”

Shigeru and Shirabu looked at one another uncertainly, being the two who didn’t know the song or the band.

“Just read through the lyrics!” Yamamoto said as though reading their minds. “Then listen to it a few times! We could record it for my channel! You could just jump in wherever you felt comfortable! It would be so fun!”

Shirabu bit his lip then shrugged. “Okay. Fine.”

Shigeru wasn’t going to be shown up by someone from Shiratorizawa, so he nodded as well. “I guess let’s listen to the original version, then?”

 

After stumbling through the lyrics several times, Shigeru felt no more confident than he had before. Honestly, it seemed silly for them all to do this in the first place. But no one was going to argue with Yamamoto’s enthusiasm – partly, because Tora was kind of like a cute kitten when excited, and partly, because everyone wanted to hear Akaashi play the violin.

So, Tora set up his camera and lights and mics. Akaashi tuned his violin. Terushima tuned Tora’s guitar.

“Remember, just jump in when you feel like you can,” Yamamoto cheered. “Chikara, Yuuji, you two start us off in the first verse, ’kay?!”

Ennoshita and Terushima nodded, sitting beside each other on the floor.

“I feel like I should apologize in advance,” Futakuchi mumbled, “because my singing voice isn’t good.”

“Nonsense!” Tora slapped him on the back. “I bet you’re amazing, Kenji! Okay, let’s roll!”

It started with just guitar, Yamamoto setting the rhythm for them. Shigeru glanced to the side and watched Ennoshita draw in a shaky breath before beginning.

“ _The hardest thing I’d ever do, is say goodbye and walk slowly away from you, but I’ll do it._ ” Akaashi squeezed his shoulder and gave a nod, urging him to continue. “ _And after all this time I shared with you, it seems unfair to leave with nothing more than blank stares, but I’ll do it._ ”

Terushima shot him an encouraging smile before picking up,

“ _If it’s for the best, then I’ll wish you well. If it helps to say our life was a living hell–_ ”

Together, they sang:

“ _Well then do it, then do it, then do it._ ”

Akaashi touched the bow to the strings of his violin, joining for the chorus.

“ _Don’t you ever forget about me._ ” Terushima put an arm around Ennoshita and pulled him into a tiny sway. Ennoshita almost lost him composure and laughed. “ _When you toss and turn in your sleep, I hope it’s because you can’t stop thinking about the reasons why you close your eyes; I haunt your dreams at night. So you can’t stop thinking about me. Don’t stop thinking about me._ ”

There was a musical interlude, and Shigeru let himself get lost in how Akaashi’s violin took over the musical melody. Yamamoto’s guitar never stopped, but where it established a rhythm, the Fukurodani captain was seamlessly pouring life into the accompaniment. Shigeru decided this man was way too perfect, and it was unfair.

Futakuchi, despite his clear embarrassment, picked up the second verse.

“ _Do you really think you could see this through, put on a smile, and wear it for someone new? Don’t you do it._ ”

Shirabu bravely slipped into the next harmony with him, eyes squeezed shut like if he opened them, his voice would collapse altogether.

“ _Cause I know I’m not the easiest one to love, but every ounce I have, I invest in you._ ”

Futakuchi stopped, nodding to Shirabu to take the line of the pre-chorus.

“ _But no one said love’s not for taking chances._ ” (Shigeru couldn’t help but smile a little fondly at the other setter.)

This time, Futakuchi took harmony while Shirabu loosened up and went into the lead. It was sort of amazing, and Futakuchi was a liar for saying he couldn’t sing. There was no way Shigeru would let them beat him, so he resolved to take the bridge, despite his overwhelming lack of certainty.

He nodded at the others to declare that he was taking it. Immediately, he regretted it as his tongue fumbled with the English, but he committed.

“ _Will you take me back in the morning, if I promise to never act this way again?_ ” He took a quick breath to steady his voice a bit. “ _Cause I’m so bad at being lonely, but I don’t know how, I don’t know how._ ”

Futakuchi took the first, “ _So, don’t you ever forget about me_ ,” and Shirabu echoed, “ _don’t you ever forget about me_ ,” before the whole group (sans Akaashi and Tora) jumped in for the final chorus.

Shigeru watched how Akaashi seemed to lose himself in the music, playing his violin like he was _feeling_ the song. Terushima knocked his shoulders into the people sitting closest to him, trying to encourage them to have fun. (Not unlike his energy on the court; Shigeru supposed he didn’t hate it.)

Then, for the very end, Tora wrapped it up: “ _Just close your eyes and fall asleep tonight._ ”

“So cool, Akaashi-kun!” Terushima gasped as soon as it was over, jumping up and pumping his fist in the air. “Wow!”

Akaashi shrugged. “Thank you, Terushima-san.”

“It was really cool,” Shigeru agreed, ears hot with embarrassment.

“I knew you guys would be great!” Tora cheered, hugging everyone. “See, that was awesome! Kenji, we should try and get the squad to go and do something like this all together next time we hang out! Wouldn’t that be fun!”

Futakuchi snorted. “Yeah, I love the idea of forcibly dragging Kenta to karaoke or an open mic night.”

Tora beamed at him. “I bet Ken-chan would love it! Right, Shigeru? Wouldn’t he love it?!”

Shigeru shrugged, laughing a little. “Uh, I don’t know? I’ve never heard him sing and I don’t know if he plays an instrument or anything. I’m sure he’d do anything if you guys asked, though.”

“See!” Yamamoto shook Futakuchi. “He might do it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only five more chapters to go, are you ready for it??????????
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all if i posted the rest of this fic today would you like. be mad.

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Ace:** _[sws.mp4]_

**Ace:** this could b us but u playin

**Yachi:** omg wow you guys are really good? I didn’t know Keiji plays violin? I’m going to fight him for not mentioning that?

**Ace:** he’s literally so good

**Ace:** he’s even going to help me with a song when I confess to shou

**Puppy:** lol shigeru cant speak English worth a shit

**Ace:** hey >:( he did really well and he was really nervous kenta!

**Puppy:** I’m sure he was

**Puppy:** he still can’t speak English worth a shit

**Senpai:** ur just sayin that cuz ur turned on right now

**Puppy:** shut? The fuck up?

**Kaori:** ngl that doesn’t surprise me

**Futakuchi:** sorry that you guys had to witness my singing ew

**Senpai:** no it was good!!!!!

**Senpai:** aone-san sure seems to agree >:)

**Futakuchi:** no you didn’t show him ryuu tell me you didn’t

**Guardian:** please you know he totally did

**Futakuchi:** ugh I hate you guys and you all suck

**Senpai:** :* love u 2

**Futakuchi:** I should tell chika on you

**Senpai:** AHHH I APOLOGIZE

 

Kentarou set his phone aside, aware that to get lost in the chat would make him a rude host. He still wasn’t sure how he’d gotten roped into hosting, but his father was absolutely thrilled.

“Kenji has a pretty hot voice, eh, Aone-san?” Tanaka teased, reaching over Kentarou to poke Aone.

Aone’s ears turned pink and he shrugged with one shoulder.

“Such a dirty liar,” Tanaka continued, “telling us that he can’t sing. Did you know he was this good?”

Another one shoulder shrug, and then a tiny nod.

“I already knew Chikara had a good voice, but just, _damn_ , I got gayer,” he finished, leaning against Kentarou. “How about you two?”

Kentarou grabbed a throw pillow and pushed against Tanaka’s face. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Don’t suffocate your guests, Ken-chan,” his father chided, walking past.

“That’s literally the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard Uncle say in a calm voice,” Tanaka snorted, watching him walk past.

“Whatever.” Kentarou averted his eyes, not wanting his friend to see that he maybe was actually a little flustered that Shigeru could sing.

“I know; how can you get any gayer than the gay disaster you already are?” Tanaka sighed. “That’s a big mood, to be honest–”

“Could be gayer,” Kawanishi interrupted, almost impulsively.

The others looked at him in surprise, since that was the first thing that he’d said all evening (apart from introducing himself).

“Whoa,” Tanaka gasped, “I mean, you’re not wrong!”

Fukunaga nodded in agreement and cracked the smallest smile.

“Well, this is fun,” Tanaka decided, flopping back onto Kentarou’s lap. “I don’t know what the hell we can do, but hey! It’s fun!”

“We could try and go somewhere,” Kentarou suggested. He was aware that he was the worst host, and everyone was definitely really bored but just too nice to tell him.

Then again, the only vice-captain there who seemed to talk much was Tanaka. Aone was practically silent, Kawanishi had only said the one thing, and Fukunaga was painfully shy (that much they already knew because of Tora, though). Kentarou himself was incredibly socially anxious, so he couldn’t add much to the conversation.

They were at a bit of an impasse.

“Alright, we _really_ need to liven this group up!” Tanaka sighed. “I’m calling Yuu and he’s meeting us at a park. We’re getting ice cream. Shouhei, Taichi, Takanobu, you guys are all going to feel a million times more at ease once Yuu’s involved. He’s like a magical social presence! Just ask Asa-chan, they’ll tell you. Or even Ken-chan, right?”

Kentarou stood up and shrugged. “Yeah, Yuu is surprisingly…not exhausting.”

“Grab your libero too!” he decided. “You always said Watari was great to be around!”

“Okay…”

“Lighten up, Kenta!” Tanaka slapped his back. “We’re going to have a great night!”

 

Once Watari showed up, Kentarou wrapped himself up in his friend’s arms and continued not being social. Tanaka and Noya weren’t having any of that.

Noya put their hands on their hips and frowned up at him. “Now, we definitely didn’t invite him for the sole purpose of you ignoring us, Kenta.”

“He’s anxious, Yuu,” Watari said gently, patting Kentarou’s head.

“Maybe, but if you let him, he’ll just cling like an octopus to the nearest friend,” Tanaka groaned. “C’mon. Off. Let go of your libero.”

Kentarou rolled his eyes but let himself be pulled away. “Fine. I’ll just talk to Shouhei and Takanobu, then.”

Tanaka’s and Noya’s eyes lit up. “Yes!” they both cheered.

“Alone. I don’t think Kenji or Tora would appreciate you two getting in their business like that.”

Kentarou joined Fukunaga and Aone under a tree.

“Hi,” he greeted, his voice cracking awkwardly.

Aone nodded in greeting and Fukunaga gave a tiny wave.

Kentarou wondered how he was supposed to proceed, when a tiny ball of fluff rubbed up against his leg, distracting all three of them. It was a tiny orange kitten with darker orange stripes and a cute little pink button nose.

Aone was the first to melt, eyes wide in adoration as he knelt down to offer it a pet. The soft middle blocker was probably one of the cutest people that Kentarou had ever encountered. He definitely didn’t question Futakuchi’s taste in men.

Fukunaga dropped down next to scratch the cat’s ears and rub its back. His tiny smile was life-altering. Kentarou almost forgave Tora for the number of text walls he’d received waxing poetic about his beauty.

“So, um, you guys like cats?” Kentarou asked dumbly.

They both nodded, eyes shining as they focused on the cute kitten.

“I have a cat at home. She’s shy and usually hiding, but she’s cute. You might like her. If she’s brave enough to come out and meet you. Uh. She likes quiet people.”

Fukunaga glanced up excitedly.

“I can give you guys some treats to lure her out when we get back.”

Aone tilted his head in silent question.

“And we can probably just leave everyone else outside until she comes out,” he added, laughing a little.

Both of them seemed happy with that, and Kentarou was pretty sure they all just became friends. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to talk enough for all three of them, but then…maybe it was easier than that.

He knelt beside them to join in petting the kitten, who was just having the best day of its little life.

 

“Well, since Mika-chan loves me, I’m going in too,” Watari declared.

Kentarou laughed and rolled his eyes. “Alright. Come on.”

The rest of the group stood outside while Kentarou led the gentlest of the group in.

“Like I said, she’s pretty shy. But like Shinji said, she loves him?” He headed to the office, where she liked to hide behind books on the shelf for her naps.

“Mika,” Watari cooed, peeking inside the bookshelf. “Hi, sweetie!” He pulled her out and showed the cute little grey kitten to the others.

Aone reached out to pet her, and Fukunaga looked like he might start crying. Kentarou took out his phone and snapped pictures, partly because he was a proud cat father, but also because he knew that Yamamoto would pay for pictures of this in blood, and honestly, Futakuchi would too.

“We should probably get everyone else,” Watari said once Mika had had a good pet.

“Alright,” Kentarou agreed, setting the kitten on the desk chair.

When they got to the living room, Kentarou saw everyone had already come inside. He figured his dad let them in, but then he saw the woman in a pantsuit with bleach-blonde hair leaning against the entry way.

“Mom?” he gasped, jumping ahead of the others.

“ _Auntie_!” Watari and Tanaka cheered.

“Hey, kiddo, business trip ended early. You didn’t tell me you made friends since I left!” She hugged him and rubbed her knuckles on his head. “You know, it’s bad manners to leave your guests outside like that, Ken-chan.”

“Mitsuki?”

Kentarou’s mom let go of him in an instant in favor of greeting her husband.

“Your mom is really cool,” Noya whispered, eyes wide.

“Yeah, I know,” Kentarou agreed. “She wasn’t going to be home for another month.”

“So!” She spun back to them. “Which one of you is the creampuff one I’ve heard so much about!”

“ _Mom_ ,” he groaned. “Yahaba isn’t here.”

“Why isn’t your boyfriend here!”

“He’s – not my boyfriend.”

“He’s not _not_ your boyfriend though,” Watari pointed out. “Auntie, it’s so gross. They hold hands all the time! And they’re all cuddly and gross. Honestly, I hate them. Like, they obviously know how the other feels. Just confess already?”

“You’re putting my favorite son through hell,” Mitsuki noted, putting an arm around Watari. “Poor Shinji, having to watch his best friends pine for each other like this.”

“Oh my god, _Mom_.”

“It’s been hell, Auntie,” Watari continued, covering his face with his arm dramatically.

“Poor thing. Come on, I’ll get you some boiled eggs from the kitchen. Ken-chan, you’d better be on your way to putting Shinji-kun out of his misery!”

“ _Mrow?_ ” came a happy sound from behind him.

Noya choked out a tiny sob, and Tanaka gasped.

“It’s a _baby_ ,” Noya whispered. “I love her. I’m going to adopt her. You’ll never see your kitten again.”

Mika curiously wandered up to the remaining members of the group before jumping up decidedly onto Kawanishi’s lap and curling up to continue her nap.

“What do I do?” Kawanishi asked, eyes wide in a panic. “Animals don’t walk up to me.”

Kentarou just chuckled. “Sorry, you have to die like that now.”

“You can’t just move when a cat decides you are her home,” Noya agreed.

“This is your life now,” Fukunaga said, quiet and solemn. Kentarou totally understood why Tora was so smitten.

“God, it’s like having Goshiki fall asleep on you during a team sleepover,” Kawanishi muttered, eyes softening as he pat Mika’s head.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Watari asked, returning from the kitchen with a plate full of food Kentarou was sure his mother forced onto him.

“Hah?” Kawanishi looked up, mildly horrified. “No. God, no.”

Tanaka hummed, unbelieving. “Isn’t Goshiki-kun your ace? He’s a cutie, if I remember.”

“Stupid hair,” Kentarou huffed, shoving Tanaka over to make room for himself on the armchair.

“Yeah, says the guy with the bumblebee stripes,” Kawanishi snapped back.

Kentarou raised an eyebrow.

“Shut up. I wasn’t defending him,” he clarified. “Are we doing something?”

“Talking about cute boys,” Tanaka sighed. “My boyfriend, for example, is amazing.”

“We know,” Kentarou groaned. “Like. It’s all you fuckin talk about. Get a life, Ryuu.”

“You’re just jealous because Shigeru hasn’t kissed you yet,” Tanaka shot back. “Everyone! Have you heard! Kenta-kun has a big, gay crush on his captain!”

“I’m fuckin in love with him,” Kentarou muttered. “What the fuck’s it to the rest of you?”

Noya gasped. “He said it! Out loud! With his words!”

“Tch, piss off.”

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Puppy:** _[kitten.jpg]_

**Futakuchi:** I am.

**Futakuchi:** SO GAY.

**Futakuchi:** That’s it, I’m coming back right now. I’m going to drag Aone home and like. I don’t even know. Kiss him, probably, for being so damn cute. God I’m in love. This is a blessing. Bless you. Thank you. My crops are thriving. Hooooly shit🙌 praise the lord

**Yachi:** ay what the fuck kenji?

**Futakuchi:** I’m soooooooooooooooooooofuckin gay

_[Kaori changed Futakuchi to Fuckin Gay.]_

**Fuckin Gay** : I’m not even mad.

**Ace:** hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hnngngnjkfahj l;dalkj fkghlurid

**Ace:** #blessed

**Ace:** im gonna confess so hard man

**Ace:** look at that beautiful boy

**Ace:** men are beautiful, you know? Like gorgeous, wow Im real gay out here

**Senpai:** You are pansexual.

**Ace:** FUCK YEA I AM

**Puppy:** So, should I tell Aone and Fukunaga that they should brace themselves to be jumped the next time you see them?

**Fuckin Gay:** I mean yea probably

**Puppy:** you’re a goddamn disaster

**Fuckin Gay:** I will make out with Shigeru right now don’t test me

**Puppy:** damn I didn’t realize you were a SHITTY FUCKING PERSON

**Puppy:** oh that’s actually funny

**Kaori:** yea ig shigeru was right about kenji being your type hA

**Puppy:** well I guess we have to get married

**Fuckin Gay:** it was always going to end this way

**Puppy:** I can’t say I was looking forward to it, but

**Freckles:** hey excuse me firstly what the fuck

**Freckles:** omg awwwwwwwwwwwwwww they’re so cute!!!! I could just snatch those two up and kiss their cheeks and tuck them into bed and cuddle that kitten I’m WEAK

**Fuckin Gay:** back off enough of you crow sluts are coming for him

**Kaori:** tag yourself I’m “crow sluts”

**Yachi:** Kaori you’re a blessing and I want you to know that I love you

**Kaori:** babe

**Yachi:** babe

**Kaori:** BABE

**Puppy:** oi les biens cut it out

**Yachi:** talk shit get HIT

**Puppy:** alright soothe your boobs I wasn’t talking shit

**Yachi:** “soothe your boobs”

**Kaori:** LMAO ken I love you with my whole tits

**Guardian:** “whole tits”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I am projecting on Akaashi and NO I'm not sorry

Shigeru was drifting off while he laid in Ennoshita’s lap when he heard Futakuchi snort across the room.

“What’s so funny?” he called.

“Your boyfriend just said, ‘soothe your boobs,’ and I’m fucking losing it,” Futakuchi explained.

Within seconds, Tora started laughing as well. “ _Whole tits_ , I hate everyone in this chat.”

“You love us,” Futakuchi argued before kissing Tora’s cheek like that was fucking normal.

_Was that fucking normal?_

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Shigeru realized belatedly.

“Yet,” Akaashi amended, collapsing on Ennoshita from the other side.

“Yet,” he sighed.

“Why don’t you just tell him, Yahabitch?” Shirabu asked, sneering from the other side of the room.

“Gee, protractor bangs, I dunno, why don’t you tell your precious _Semi-san_ how you feel?” Shigeru fired back.

“I dunno,” Terushima sighed, “I think that Shigeru-kun has the highest chances here. I mean, we all see how Mad Dog-chan follows him around like a puppy.”

“Don’t call him that,” Shigeru replied on instinct. “It upsets him.”

Terushima actually looked guilty, though. “Ah, I didn’t know. Sorry, that’s what everyone – sorry.”

Shigeru’s phone pinged.

 

 **Ken:** nice ass

 **Shige:** What

 **Ken:** sorry noya took my fuckin phone because he hates me apparently

 **Shige:** oh

 **Shige:** whys everyone losing their shit in your gc

 **Ken:** _[kitten.jpg]_

 **Shige:** AWAWWWWW SO CUTEEEEEEEE

 **Ken:** I know

 **Shige:** Aone and Fukunaga look so pure?

 **Ken:** yeah, they wanna be vets too

 **Shige:** that’s awesome!

 **Shige:** I’m really glad you’re having fun Ken<3

 **Ken:** yea well

 **Ken:** shut the fuck up about it

 **Shige:** see you in a few days<3

 **Ken:** what are you, my wife

 **Shige:** till death do us part, asshole

 

In the morning, the group was pretty quick to get ready to see their senpais.

Not every senpai would be there, because apparently Daichi and Bokuto were the ones who arranged it, so they were limited. But Shigeru knew Oikawa would be there, and he was a little anxious. He had no idea how to explain literally anything to him.

Like, okay, so he held Kyoutani’s hand a lot of the time and the cuddled some of the time and they fought almost none of the time, but…

Come to think of it, Kyoutani never really expressed that he liked Shigeru in that way. Just, gruffly said he was allowed to be affectionate, but he couldn’t kiss him or anything. Which really wasn’t promising. Unless – maybe – if Kyoutani was waiting for a real confession, which Shigeru could do. Should do.

He should probably start with the fact that he gave him those flowers on Valentine’s–

“ _Haba-chan_! Yahoo~!”

“Ew, it’s this asshole,” Futakuchi gagged.

“Fuck off,” Shigeru replied, jabbing him in the ribs. “Hi, Oikawa-san.”

Oikawa started going off about something or other, but Shigeru couldn’t focus now that he was thinking about his actually nonexistent relationship status. He was being totally presumptuous that Kyoutani felt the same. How shitty.

His mind was brought back to the present when the apartment door opened and at the counter, Iwaizumi and a very buff owl man were arm-wrestling at a perfect stalemate. It was intense, and a little hot, and Shigeru might have drooled a little.

There was a sharp intake of breath behind him, and Shigeru turned to see a red-faced, love-struck Akaashi.

“Is that–?”

Akaashi just nodded, moving towards the owl man in a trace. “I am going to lick his arms.”

“I’m kink shaming,” Futakuchi snorted.

“I don’t care.” Akaashi did in fact walk up to the owl man (who was most certainly Bokuto) and lick his flexed bicep.

Surprisingly, Bokuto went completely red and smashed Iwaizumi’s arm down on the counter. Iwaizumi must’ve been in shock. It was the only way he could have been defeated.

“Um – uh – hey – ’Kaashi,” came a squeak that didn’t sound like it belonged to the man who could quite fittingly be described as a _beef cake_ sitting before them.

“Hello, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi replied, voice level despite his present state. He grabbed Bokuto’s arm and pulled him towards the door. “Goodbye, everyone. We’ll see you later.”

“B-bye!” Bokuto shouted behind him as the door closed.

“What the fuck?” Shirabu scoffed, frowning at the door. “I thought he was the one of us who wasn’t a fucking train wreck?”

“Have you finally accepted that you are a train wreck, peach hoe?” Shigeru asked innocently.

“You know what, creampuff slut–”

“OI!” Karasuno’s old reserve setter and vice-captain had his hands on his hips and was giving them the Mom Stare. “That’s enough. We’re here to be friends. I don’t give a rat’s ass about the rivalry between your senpais.”

“We have a rivalry?” Ushijima asked, leaning over to his Guess Monster.

The Guess Monster blinked at him, exasperated. “Wa-Wakatoshi- _kun_.”

A beautiful girl with dark hair and glasses patted his arm. “Wakkun, you’re an angel; don’t you forget it.”

“I knew that we were rivals, but I didn’t think it was personal between our schools,” Ushijima insisted. “In that case, we were all rivals?”

“But Oikawa hated you,” the Guess Monster – wait, _Tendou_ – reminded him.

“Hates you,” Oikawa corrected.

“Suck a dick, Tooru, no one cares,” the girl in the glasses groaned.

“Okay, Iwa-chan, let’s go–”

“Tch, take your filthy hands off me, pervert.”

Shigeru snorted. They really hadn’t changed much.

A man with wild bedhead came through the door. “Hey, hey, sorry I’m late everyone! But don’t worry, the best former captain has arrived!”

“Kuroo-senpai!” Tora cheered, bowing in greeting. “Good to see you again!”

“You too, Tora!” Bedhead – Kuroo, apparently – pet his head. “Hey, where’s Bo and ’Kaashi?”

“Do you honestly want us to answer that question, Kuroo-san?” Ennoshita deadpanned.

“Ah – no. Never mind. They’re sucking face. Alright! The rest of you heathens! Let’s go to lunch!”

 

When they arrived at the diner, Bokuto and Akaashi were waiting for them, so Shigeru figured they must have sorted out their proper hellos already.

Akaashi and Ennoshita shared a look that ended with Akaashi rolling his eyes and Ennoshita snorting. Shigeru felt like a part of his soul was reaching out to them. He really had never had a friend group outside of his immediate team before. It looked…fun. He actually wanted to be part of this.

There was a lot of strategy talk as well as just catching up and laughing together. Shigeru was glad that they had this opportunity. He didn’t realize how much he would end up missing his senpais.

“Haba-chan, you have one last chance to get my boys to Nationals,” Oikawa reminded him. “Please – make it count.”

“Tch, don’t put so much pressure on him!” Iwaizumi scolded. “Do your best. I know you’ll take them far. You and Kyoutani make an excellent team.”

Oikawa nodded solemnly. “You have some great first-years, too. I know you can do it. Oh! Do you know who you’re passing the torch to next year?”

Shigeru bit his lip. He really hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I – uh – always figured it’d be Kindaichi?”

Oikawa hummed in consideration. “I suppose he’s grown up a bit. With him as our ace and captain, Kunimi as our vice…that first-year setter is really quite the talent… He’ll do.”

Shigeru nodded. “Hopefully, by the time I pass the torch, we’ll be a national level team, right?”

That made Oikawa light up like a Christmas tree. “Right! I know you can do it. You have one less annoying prodigy to put up with this year.”

Tendou scowled across the table at Oikawa, who barely flinched. Shigeru made a mental note to never even imply an insult on Ushijima in his presence.

“You’ll have to beat us first, though, Yahaba,” Ennoshita pointed out, sipping his drink. “And, well…we don’t back down easily.”

Shigeru thought back to the first ever practice match against Karasuno and shuddered. Even as a broken mess of a team, their offense and brute force was enough to force Seijoh without Oikawa into submission. Seijoh without Oikawa had yet to prove themselves.

He vaguely remembered hearing Ushiwaka say that Seijoh was a bunch of weak players, and that only Oikawa was strong. There…there was a chance he was right. What did they have, really?

There was a sharp chop to his head, and he squeaked in surprise.

“Stop getting in your head,” Iwaizumi chided. “You’re as bad as Tooru.”

Shigeru shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I – I was just thinking about something Ushijima-san said once, that’s all.”

Ushijima turned his attention over.

“You said…that Oikawa-senpai was the only strong player on Seijoh, and the rest of us were just relying on him.”

His facial expression remained neutral, but his ears reddened. “I recall saying something along those lines, yes.”

Tendou and Shirabu both rolled their eyes like they knew more to that story than Ushijima was letting on.

“I also saw you play at the most recent tournament,” Ushijima continued, ignoring his former teammates. “You have a lot of work to do. You’re not a very strong leader. You get too easily distracted and emotional. You’re too focused on what you think your role should be to the team that you forget how to make yourself an invaluable asset. I suppose that’s something my friend Semi would be able to tell you more about.”

“Ooh, like his pinch serve from last year?” Ennoshita remembered. “Totally different from Oikawa’s style. I know we picked it up, but it was still pretty good!”

“Even his setting style is good,” Ushijima offered. “Honestly, his leadership skills and confidence are what need adjustment. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck a step behind the other teams in the prefecture for the rest of the season.”

“Ushiwaka-chan!” Oikawa gasped. “Why do you have to say it like that!?”

“No, he’s right,” Shigeru said, motioning for Oikawa to chill. “He’s…absolutely right. I actually think I know what I need to work on, now.”

That didn’t look like it made Oikawa happy, but Shigeru was too deep in thought to care. He could do something with this. Definitely…

 

“Semi-san,” Shirabu called after knocking on the door. “It’s Shirabu.”

A tall man with kind eyes opened the door. “Oh, I’m sorry, Shirabu. You just missed him. He’ll be back in an hour or so. You and your friend can come inside, though!”

“Thank you, Oohira-san.”

Shirabu gestured for Shigeru to follow him inside, and the man – Oohira – closed the door behind them.

“So, what brings you two here?”

“Well, this is my – uh – friend? – Yahaba. He wanted to talk to Semi about what to do to make himself invaluable to his team as a setter,” Shirabu explained.

Oohira nodded, moving to the kitchenette and grabbing a kettle. “Ah, yes, you’re Oikawa’s junior, right?”

“Hai.”

Oohira hummed. “You have a lot to live up to then, I would imagine.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“You know,” Oohira continued, “Ushijima often said it was a shame that Oikawa didn’t come to Shiratorizawa.”

Shigeru snorted. “Yeah, I might’ve heard that once or twice.”

Oohira simply laughed, open and kind. “Well, what was half rooted in admiration and a junior high crush was also a bold statement on his talent as a setter. Ushijima valued Oikawa’s skills even over those of prodigy setters – such as Karasuno’s Kageyama.”

“Oohira-san, I’m not sure that I know where you’re going with this,” Shigeru admitted, sitting on the sofa.

Oohira pulled down three mugs from a cabinet. “Well, you did learn from Oikawa, yes?”

“Yes.”

“What did you learn? Other than skills, I mean. From observation, even. What can you learn from Oikawa?”

“There was nothing he couldn’t do,” Shigeru sighed, slumping into himself. “He was a powerful server, excellent receiver, accurate spiker, agreeable setter–”

“Well, he couldn’t beat Kageyama-kun,” Oohira interrupted. “He wasn’t some all-powerful volleyball god, Shigeru. He was human. He made many mistakes as a setter and as a captain. How did he make himself invaluable?”

“Perfecting his killer serve and learning to bring out the best in his ace at any moment?” Shigeru guessed.

“So, I’m guessing you don’t share Oikawa’s serving skills, right?”

Shigeru blushed. “No, not really…”

“That’s okay,” Oohira said, bringing a tray into the living area with three cups of tea on it. “What are you good at?”

“Game sense and technique,” he mumbled, hiding in the mug of tea he was handed.

“Hey, those are both very important,” Oohira assured him. “Stop worrying about what you can’t do, because at this point, it’s too late to think about that. Look at what you _can_ do, and then keep practicing until you’re undeniably the best at it. You don’t have to be Oikawa. You just have to be you.”

“Thank you, senpai.” Shigeru hadn’t expected this kind of pep talk when he agreed to meet Semi.

“That’s what Semi did, anyhow, when this brat replaced him as our starting setter,” Oohira chuckled, ruffling Shirabu’s hair affectionately.

“Tch.” Shirabu shrugged him off.

“Oh, right, I forgot that you did that,” Shigeru said. “Didn’t you get in with the entrance exams, too?”

Shirabu gave a lopsided smile. “I wasn’t tall enough to make the scholarship cut, I guess.”

“Yet you were still good enough to surpass your senpai who did make the cut. That’s kind of incredible,” Shigeru admitted. “Wow.”

“Well, it’s like Oohira-san said: become the best at what you can do.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you guys are right.”

“I guess that’s really all we needed,” Shirabu said, starting to stand.

“Don’t you want to see Semi?” Shigeru asked. “I mean…aren’t you two…don’t you kind of have like…a thing?”

Oohira stifled a laugh. Shirabu glared.

“A _thing_?” he repeated, incredulous.

“Yeah, don’t you like him–?”

“I’m going to leave now. Thank you for your hospitality, Oohira-san, and tell Semi-san that I’m not sorry I missed him.”

Shigeru watched him leave, then glanced at Oohira. “Sore subject?”

“He has the emotional stability of a watermelon, Yahaba-kun,” Oohira explained.

“…I see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the anxiety yahaba but i needed angst to come soon. anyways we're posting the rest of this bad bitch tonight because it's been finished literally forever and i just wanna start posting something new but i won't until my schedule clears a spot so let's DO IT (it's kuroken btw so buckle up buddy)💪💪
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *screams into the void*

“Alright, brats, it’s time to warmup. I hope you’re ready to run laps after sitting on your asses for a week,” Kentarou bellowed at the beginning of practice.

Kawamoto raised his hand.

“Yes, Kawamoto-kun?”

“Where’s Yahaba-senpai?”

Kentarou rolled his eyes and slumped against Watari. “He’s running late. Any more questions?”

“Why are you so grumpy when Yahaba-san isn’t here?” Kunimi mused.

“Why are you such a smartass?” Kentarou countered.

“Touché.”

Practice began, and Kentarou kept a steady jog to keep pace with Watari.

“They’re going to be so excited when he shows up with ice cream,” Watari said. “He’s so good to us, honestly.”

“Tch, I can’t believe all of second year he gave me shit for skipping practice, and now he gets to on the premise of surprising the team. I call bullshit, Shinji.”

“Oh, you love him,” Watari laughed. When Kentarou sputtered and tripped, Watari stopped. “Holy crap! You _love_ him!”

“No – shut the fuck up!”

“You _love_ him,” Watari cooed. “Are you gonna confess? Ask him out? Get married and adopt a million babies?”

“Being aroace has clearly left you out of touch with how relationships work, Shinji,” Kentarou muttered. “Run an extra lap.”

“This is tyranny!”

“Take it up with fuckin Shigeru!”

Watari just laughed it off, so Kentarou decided now was a good time to run on ahead of him. He wasn’t going to listen to this.

 

“I’m here!” Yahaba’s voice rang out at the end of practice. “Don’t worry, I’ll be doing a bunch of extra practice today. But as it’s the first day of training camp, I wanted to bring you something special!”

“Ice cream!” the team cheered, crowding him to get their treats.

Kentarou clicked his tongue in feigned annoyance and rolled his eyes, watching them all fondly.

“They’ve really come together as a team, huh?” Watari noted, leaning against Kentarou’s side. “I think we stand a chance at Nationals in the next tournament.”

“Don’t just tell me that, stupid. Tell all of them.”

Watari grinned. “I will!”

Yahaba handed one of the last ice creams to Kentarou. “Hey, sorry I didn’t show up until now.”

“Whatever,” Kentarou muttered, starting in on the treat.

“Were the kids good for you?”

“Obviously. They’re all fuckin scared of me.” He thought for a moment. “Well, okay, I don’t think that Kawamoto is. But I don’t think he’s afraid of anything, to be fair.”

“You know, I bet he’ll be a great captain someday.”

“Yeah?” Kentarou looked him over. “Definitely. He’ll probably lead them all to Nationals twice, eh?”

“I want him to be our starting setter in this upcoming tournament.”

Kentarou choked. “You – what?”

Yahaba shrugged. “He’s better than me.”

“No – but – Shige, you’re the _captain_.”

Yahaba nodded. “I’ll serve first. My jump serves are getting good, you know? Here, let me show you…”

Kentarou frowned down at it. “Will you play other than to serve?”

“Of course. I mean, there’s nothing against having two setters on the court, right?” Yahaba pointed out. “But I want our main setter to be Kawamoto. I can focus on helping with defense, right?”

“Where is this all coming from?” Kentarou asked, pulling him aside to sit on the bench. “I mean, I agree that Morita and Kawamoto deserve to be starters, not reserves, but…what’s gotten into you?”

“As a captain, it’s my responsibility to lead us to Nationals. I think this team can be the one that does it, okay? I’ve been looking, and…we probably won’t be facing Shiratorizawa unless they actually beat Karasuno. We’ll only get to face one of them, though.”

“And?”

“I know that my setting and my offense and my leading has holes. I need to put the team in a position to win, not to make me look good. So what if I’m the captain? I’m not Oikawa-san. I don’t need to be the star player right next to my ace,” he sighed. “I need to do this in a way that plays to our strengths and compensates for our weaknesses.”

Kentarou pursed his lips, but he knew it made sense. “Alright.”

“Anyways, I arranged some practice matches – I ran everything by coach, of course – and we should have Dateko on Thursday, Fukurodani on Friday, and Karasuno on Saturday…”

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Yachi:** soon

 **Kaori:** …what

 **Yachi:** SOON

 **Ace:** gay fear

 **Senpai:** gay judgement

 **Puppy:** gay panic

 **Freckles:** I’m just gay

 **Yachi:** lieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

 **Freckles:** first of all, rude

 **Yachi:** WE’RE GOING TO SEE YALL IN TOKYO SOOOOON

 **Kaori:** babe<3

 **Yachi:** baaaabe

 **Kaori:** babeeee

 **Yachi:** I heckin miss you

 **Kaori:** I miss you heckin more

 **Futakuchi:** I don’t miss any of you because all of you are short, and losers

 **Guardian:** wooooowww and here we adopted u

 **Puppy:** I’m telling Aone on you

 **Futakuchi:** wait no I apologize!

 

 **Kyoutani:** _[screenshot.jpg]_

 **Aone:** 😞

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Puppy:** too late

 **Futakuchi:** he sent me a disappointed face emoji

 **Futakuchi:** I’ve never felt so ashamed

 **Senpai:** man I love Aone-san he’s so awesome and cute and quiet and scary

 **Guardian:** right! I totally loved hanging out with him, totally get why shouyou dangles off of him like a squid

 **Futakuchi:** ugh

 **Guardian:** oh yeah you think aone likes shou don’t you

 **Futakuchi:** 🙁

 **Freckles:** well shou still likes me so ure guchi

 **Futakuchi:** no im kuchi

 **Freckles:** 😝haha v funny

 **Puppy:** hey does anyone know who the fuck Fukurodani is?

 **Kaori:** I’m Fukurodani

 **Puppy:** oh shoot see you soon

 **Kaori:** yeet

 **Yachi:** so you’re coming out to play them then going back to Tokyo for The Training Camp?

 **Kaori:** you know it

 **Yachi:** rad rad rad

 **Puppy:** It’s gonna be fun

 **Senpai:** can’t wait to wipe the floor with you all 😊

 **Ace:** ha! As if

 **Puppy:** bring it

 **Futakuchi:** aone is going to block all your spikes we’re the iron wall

 

On Wednesday, Kentarou decided to start right away practicing with who would apparently be his new setter.

“Kawa-kun,” he called, beckoning the setter over.

“Hai!” Kawamoto stood at attention.

“Toss to me.”

“Hah?” Kawamoto glanced at Yahaba, who was killing his jump serves. “Are…you and senpai fighting?”

“What?” Kentarou shook his head. “No, uh – Yahaba wanted me to be the one to tell you. You’re going to be our starter this time around. So…yeah.”

Kawamoto blinked. “What.”

“You’re our starting setter. On the front lines. You need to sync with me, because I’m the ace,” Kentarou spelled out. “So, what do you say?”

“What – what about Sato and Morita?” _The other starters_.

“Sato’s in the box, ready to jump in, and Morita is still going to be a starter, exchanging with Watari whenever necessary.”

“Okay,” Kawamoto said, looking a little unsteady.

“Oi, don’t pass out. Deep breath. Drink some water. You’re an amazing setter, kid. Show ’em what you’ve got.”

“ _Hai_!”

 

**Vice THOTs**

**Ken:** why is this our chat name again?

 **Ryuu:** chika says it’s an inside joke for our gen of caps/vices

 **Taka:** 🤔

 **Shou:** ^

 **Tai:** I don’t understand why you all felt obligated to invite me.

 **Ryuu:** No obligation! Only friendship, Kawanishi-san!

 **Shou:** ^^

 **Tai:** 2/5 of the group don’t talk, another 2/5 don’t like people. That just leaves you, Tanaka-san, and frankly, even you don’t talk enough for 5 people.

 **Ryuu:** oi is that a challenge punk

 **Ryuu:** private school brat

 **Ryuu:** thinkin ur better than me cuz u got in on a sports scholarship to a powerhouse

 **Tai:** … Again, why am I here?

 **Ryuu:** Besides! Aone-san and Fukunaga-san talk, right guys??

 **Taka:** 👍

 **Shou:** 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏳‍🌈, 🤫⚔

 **Ryuu:** uh what

 **Ken:** he said, “be gay, do crimes”

 **Shou:** 🥊🏳‍🌈🕺🚓

 **Ken:** “stonewall was a riot”

 **Ryuu:** dang ur almost as good as tora at that

 **Shou:** 😶

 **Ryuu:** aww

 **Ryuu:** yea we all know how close u 2 r

 **Shou:** 🙄

 **Ken:** he’s always talking about you, too

 **Ken:** constantly

 **Ken:** make him stop

 **Shou:** 🤣🤷‍♂️

 **Ken:** anyways, Aone, see you tomorrow for our practice match, right?

 **Taka:** 👍👍

 

“I hope you guys are ready to _lose_ ,” Futakuchi crooned when Dateko arrived. “You’re really not that great of a team now that Oikawa’s gone.”

Kentarou glanced at Yahaba, but the captain did nothing more than purse his lips. _It’s so hot when he doesn’t let this stuff bother him._

“You’re in for some surprises, Kenji,” Kentarou promised. “We’ve grown since you last saw us. And with Yahaba leading us, we’re going to do great.”

Futakuchi snorted and rolled his eyes. “That means a whole lot coming from his boyfriend.”

Both Yahaba and Kentarou put up their fists, so with that, Futakuchi walked away and stopped harassing them.

“Man, why are you friends with that guy? He’s such a provocative jackass,” Yahaba complained, squinting at Futakuchi as he walked away.

“You’re friends with him too, now, since all the captains started getting chummy,” Kentarou reminded him.

“ _Chummy_ ,” Yahaba repeated. “That’s – yeah, that’s not a word I’d expect from your mouth. Okay, let’s line up, everybody!”

Warmups wrapped up, so the teams got in their places for the game. Kentarou glanced over as Yahaba took his starting position in the back row – it wasn’t that unusual. But now, instead of their first year spiker in the front, it was their setter. Kentarou could see the cogs in Dateko’s brains starting to whir, wondering why there was another setter on the court.

“Aoba Johsai serves first,” Coach Irihata announced, nodding to Yahaba.

Yahaba’s jump serves had always been a little above average. He was no Kageyama or Oikawa, but in the last week, he’d spent a lot of time fine-tuning it to be his own. Whenever Kentarou wasn’t practicing with Kawamoto, he watched as Yahaba refined and practiced the serve until it looked almost untouchable. It wasn’t as powerful as Oikawa’s, but it seemed to be twice as accurate. It wasn’t as unpredictable as Yamaguchi’s, but it was just as difficult to dig.

_There it goes._

“One touch,” Aone called, no shocker there. Dateko wasn’t the Iron Wall for nothing.

That was okay. They’d just have to work hard for this match.

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Futakuchi:** I mean this with all love, but ken…that was rough to watch?

 **Puppy:** I know

 **Futakuchi:** like,t aht was a BAD loss for you ugys?

 **Puppy:** I know

 **Futakuchi:** what the hell happened to blue castle

 **Puppy:** we’re growing. We just don’t quite fit into the new shoes yet.

 **Senpai:** ooh profound

 **Yachi:** I’m using that

 **Kaori:** dude me too

 **Guardian:** what happened?

 **Futakuchi:** Seijoh was like…kinda a wreck? They have a new starting setter…

 **Ace:** oof

 **Puppy:** Kawamoto is amazing. Just nervous

 **Kaori:** Well, we’re in pretty rough shape right now too with all these growing pains. Can’t wait to play you guys tomorrow.

 **Puppy:** I look forward to it.

 **Kaori:** I should warn you…Bokuto-san will be there.

 **Puppy:** Uh…should I be afraid?

 **Senpai:** hoo boy

 **Guardian:** bro

 **Ace:** dude

 **Yachi:** mate

 **Kaori:** very.

 

“Hey, hey, _hey_ , Seijoh!”

Kentarou almost jumped into Yahaba’s arms in surprise before he processed how humiliating and un-punk that would be.

“Bokuto-san, you’re scaring Ken-chan!” Kaori chided the tall owl-man, smacking him with a rolled-up flyer.

“But _Kaori_ , I’ve never been to a Miyagi practice match before! That’s usually Nekoma’s territory!” owl-man (Bokuto) whined.

“Hey, Bokuto-san!” Yahaba called, waving the owl-man over. “This is my vice-captain, Kyoutani Kentarou. He’s our ace.”

Kentarou froze under the sudden attention he was receiving. Bokuto looked even more intense and intimidating up close.

“Nice to meet you, Kyoutani-kun!” Bokuto said, reaching out and shaking his hand vigorously. “I’ve heard about you from Oikawa and Iwaizumi! You’re Seijoh’s Mad Dog, huh? You’re much shorter than I expected! Then again, so was Iwaizumi!”

“Bokuto-san.” The most ethereal man Kentarou had ever seen laid a hand on Bokuto’s arm. “You’re overwhelming Kyoutani-kun. Release his hand, give him space to breathe.”

“Ah, sorry!” Bokuto dropped his hand. “Thanks, ’Kaashi.”

“Remember, you’re here to observe,” _’Kaashi_ said, directing Bokuto to the sidelines. “Who knows, maybe you can advise the scouts at your college to check some of these players out, right?”

“Right!” Bokuto leaned over to kiss the ethereal beauty before bounding over to the sidelines.

“That’s Akaashi Keiji, Fukurodani’s captain,” Yahaba whispered. “Isn’t he hot?”

“Hot doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Kentarou replied. “Kinda a pretty boy. Not my type.”

Yahaba hummed before realization set in, and he frowned. “Oi! Brat!”

Kentarou laughed and backed away before Yahaba could smack him. “Come on, we should be lining up, Yahaba.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

“At least I’m not fake.”

They knocked into each other as they walked to the rest of their team to line up for the match.

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Kaori:** Well, I would say that was a productive practice match!

 **Puppy:** your team seems to be coming along well

 **Kaori:** you guys too! I think whatever you were struggling with yesterday you’re starting to get the hang of

 **Kaori:** btw tell that cute lil first year setter of yours that he’s a monster and Akaashi-san thinks he’s rad as hekc

 **Puppy:** Kawamoto said thank you and then started crying

 **Kaori:** what a baby angel

 **Puppy:** I k n o w

 **Yachi:** well tomorrow you face US

 **Freckles:** yea and ive been polishing up my float serve so ud better b shaking in ur boots

 **Puppy:** im quivering

 **Senpai:** ur goin down, blue castle trash

 **Guardian:** u don’t stand a chance against the CROWS

 **Yachi:** a flock of crows is called a murder :)

 **Puppy:** sometimes I wonder why everyone is scared of you guys, and then I remember

 

Every time Karasuno walked into a match, they looked like a punk band getting ready to start shit. But they also all panicked as soon as everyone started getting ready, which made it challenging to stay afraid of them.

But once they were on the court?

It was incredible.

It was like they were trying new things for the hell of it – and okay, Kentarou understood. They just went to summer _Nationals_ , of course they were on a different level. But they had a first-year middle blocker replacing Hinata, a first-year libero replacing Noya, and a first-year setter replacing Kageyama.

And they were _good_.

It was weird, seeing so many first years on the court, but a part of Kentarou wanted to see more of it. How would their first years carry the team next year?

Irihata seemed to wonder the same, as he called a time out.

“Kyoutani, Watari, I want to try getting Sato and Sakamoto in for a good amount of this match if possible. I think the crows have the right idea, seeing how the younger team members work together. It’s important not to rely completely on the third-years, or else the team is nothing when you’re gone.”

Changes were made as the match went on, but everyone stayed neck and neck. Sakamoto was a good libero – he wasn’t Watari, and he definitely wasn’t Noya, but he matched up against Karasuno’s Short Stuff pretty well and dug a lot of Tanaka’s spikes. Sato’s spiking skills were definitely a work in progress, but his height gave him an edge on blocking up in the front. And Kawamoto? He perfectly changed his setting style to compliment his spiker. He was almost as much of a natural as Kageyama.

Karasuno took the first set, and Seijoh took the second. They went into overtime well into the thirties for the third set, but ultimately, Karasuno came out on top.

“Good game!” Tanaka called, crashing into Kentarou with a sweaty hug. “Your rookies are as incredible as your seasoned players – and that setter? Fantastic!”

Kentarou stumbled back and tried to return the embrace. “Uh, yeah. They’re pretty good.”

“I can’t wait to crush you guys in a real tournament!”

“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Kentarou replied evenly. “We’re going to Nationals this time. Don’t worry – we’ll tell your rivals, Nekoma, hello for you!”

“Ha! I’ll make sure to kiss Tora when I see him on the National stage for you! Because. You. Won’t.”

“Alright, boys,” Ennoshita sighed. “Simmer down. The best team will win. Since that’s Karasuno…”

“What was that, Director-san?” Yahaba growled.

“You heard me, Poetry-kun.”

“Picking a fight with my ace?”

“I didn’t realize he was your anything, Shigeru.”

“ _Oi_ ,” Watari interrupted. “Stop getting all competitive. We’ll see you guys again soon, right? Thank you for the game.” He elbowed Kentarou and Yahaba in their sides.

“Thank you for the game,” they both mumbled.

 

**It’s Punk Rock to Cry**

**Puppy:** I’m doing it. I’m going to properly confess to Yahaba.

 **Futakuchi:** yes get ur man

 **Yachi:** finally

 **Senpai:** I’m so proud of u

 **Guardian:** yayyy

 **Ace:** ooh when

 **Puppy:** today after practice

 **Ace:** omggggg that’s when im confessing to shou

 **Puppy:** well hey, that’s fun

 **Ace:** :D we’re both gonna get bfs look at us wow

 **Puppy:** haha, yea, if all goes well

 **Ace:** it will, he’s obvs crazy abt u

 

The next week of practice was back to the usual schedule. That Saturday, Kentarou and Yahaba let everyone go home early while they cleaned up.

“Did you see my serve today?” Yahaba asked.

 _Like I’d been able to see anything else._ “Yeah.”

“And?” He was bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Kentarou shrugged. “Yeah. ’S good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Yahaba beamed at him. “Your spikes are looking pretty solid, too. Didn’t take you long at all to warm up to Kawamoto’s setting style, Ken.”

“’m the ace for a reason, Shigeru.”

“I _know_ , but you’re just really amazing sometimes, you know?”

“Sure.”

Yahaba placed the last ball in the basket. “So, is there a reason you asked me to stay and clean up with just you?”

Kentarou shrugged again. There _was_ , but he still wasn’t totally sure about it. A confession letter seemed pretty stupid and cliché, especially since Yahaba probably already knew, but it was the only way he knew to confess his stupid feelings. He wasn’t good at saying that stuff out loud. If anything, Yahaba probably understood that.

Yahaba looked deep in thought as they put away the last of the equipment. Before Kentarou could ask what his problem was, Yahaba slammed him into a wall.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kentarou muttered, pushing back against Yahaba’s hold on his shirt. “What’d I fuckin do, jerk?”

Yahaba hummed in consideration, then smiled. “Oh, nothing. Just bugged me how you were cute but at arms’ length is all.”

“Tch.” Kentarou pushed at Yahaba’s wrists, but to no avail. “So, you’re just going to hold me here? Weirdo.”

“How are your eyes even gold? Are they contacts?” Yahaba asked. “Because they’re really pretty, but that’s just wild.”

“That’s – that’s their natural color,” Kentarou replied, averting his gaze. “You’re really doing this, now of all times?”

“Yep,” Yahaba said, popping the p.

Kentarou summoned all the strength he could muster and pushed Yahaba to be the one against the wall. “You’re such a fuckin idiot.”

“What’re you going to do about it, Ken-chan?” Yahaba asked, somehow having the _audacity_ to look smug.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Make me.”

If that wasn’t permission, Kentarou wasn’t sure what _was_.

So, he did it. He did what he thought he needed a three-page fuckin _love letter_ to accomplish. He leaned up (he hated how he had to go on his damn toes), and he crashed his mouth against Yahaba’s.

It was anything but soft, anything but skillful, but he was pretty sure it said what it needed to say. Once their lips connected, he moved his hands up to the sides of Yahaba’s head, half holding him closer, half pushing him further against the wall. For a split second, they parted, but only before crashing together, over and over again.

Yahaba’s hands found Kentarou’s hips, holding him close. Kentarou could tell he knew a little more about what he was doing with how he tried to coax Kentarou’s lips into a gentler pace. How was this the first time they were doing this? Oh, and other then _right this second_ , when was Kentarou going to get to do it again?

Out of breath and shaking from the emotional exertion, Kentarou finally pulled back, resting his forehead against Yahaba’s. For just a blissful moment, it was quiet.

 _You should’ve asked if it was okay. Just because you gave him time doesn’t mean he wanted to_ , his anxiety supplied, unhelpfully.

And then Yahaba’s smile opened into a laugh.

“The fuck’s so funny?” Kentarou asked, defensiveness creeping into him as he backed away.

“It’s – no, it’s nothing,” Yahaba sighed, trying to catch his breath. “I just _knew_ you liked me.”

“I – no fuckin shit.” Kentarou wasn’t sure why that was funny, but panic was settling in.

He did that. He kissed Yahaba. And Yahaba hadn’t really _said_ anything, just that Kentarou liked him. Which was true, but it didn’t…it didn’t actually.

_When did he get outside?_

He leaned against the wall, taking a few deep breaths before he started his trek home. That was not how this day was supposed to go.

 

“Kentarou?” his mother called when he came into the house. “What’s wrong, eh?”

“Don’t wanna fuckin talk about it.”

She pursed her lips. “What do you need?”

“Ryuu, Yuu, Tadashi, and Hitoka just got back to Karasuno. I’m going to see them, and vent, and hopefully stop feeling like shit.”

“Alright,” she sighed. “Keep your father and I updated, though, understand?”

“Yeah.”

 

The five of them sat in Tanaka’s room, staring in different directions.

He was being selfish, and he felt so guilty. Tanaka was supposed to be with Ennoshita, Noya was supposed to be with Asahi, and Yachi was supposed to be with Kiyoko.

He was so selfish. Why did he call them again?

And _Tora_. Tora was supposed to be confessing to Fukunaga. That had been the deal. But now that Kentarou’s confession was ruined, Tora’s was too? That wasn’t fucking fair. He was being selfish. Why did he do this? Why did Yahaba laugh? Was this all just one big, long fuckin game to him?

What the _fuck_?

“We’re here.”

He looked up to see Tora, Kaori, and Futakuchi standing in the doorway.

“Stop,” Tora said before Kentarou could get a word out. “Shouhei understood! We’ll talk later. Right now, we need to help you feel better, okay?”

Kentarou shrugged with one shoulder.

“Come on,” Kaori said, putting her hands on her hips. “We’re getting dressed up, and then we’re going out! A punk night on the town is exactly what we all need!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoy the ending because i am this close to yeeting myself into the sea ! (dont worry i live in michigan we aint nowhere near the sea)
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Watari chapter we Deserve

Shinji knew that something was going to go wrong, but did he intervene? No. Because he thought maybe, just once, Yahaba and Kyoutani would be able to sort something out without his assistance. Ha! Yeah, right. That’d be great, wouldn’t it?

No, now he needed to get involved, because Yahaba is the one who doesn’t know how to express an emotion, apparently.

“What happened,” Shinji demanded.

“He kissed me,” Yahaba explained, voice barely above a whisper. “And then he ran away?”

“What did you do between those two events?” Shinji asked.

“I…” Yahaba looked away. “I laughed – but I didn’t do it in a mean way! I didn’t think so! It was just funny – because we’ve been dancing around it for so long?”

“Ken has _anxiety_! Do you even know how much it probably took for him to make the first– Oh my god, I can’t even look at you right now.” Shinji turned around and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I need new friends – friends who understand why it’s so distressing to see my allo friends being all, whatever the hell this is supposed to be!”

“I know I fucked up,” Yahaba whimpered. “I _know_. I love him, alright? And all this time, my brain was like, _hey, he set some pretty big boundaries, so he probably is just indulging you and doesn’t even like you like that to begin with!_ You can imagine how that’s felt.

“So, when he actually _kissed_ me? I was laughing at myself, not at him! But my last brain cell wasn’t thinking about explaining that! I was thinking about how he uses too much teeth and clearly didn’t know what he was doing but it was exactly what I hoped it would be.”

“You done?” Shinji asked.

“Yeah.”

“Go home. I’ll see you in thirty minutes, alright?”

“Okay.”

Shinji had to go to Kyoutani’s place first. He knew what he needed to do.

 

“Hello, Auntie,” Shinji greeted when Kyoutani Mitsuki opened the door.

“Shinji-kun,” she replied. “Kentarou isn’t here right now.”

He sighed and nodded. “Can I come in anyways?”

“Go on.” She closed the door behind them. “Do you know why he’s so upset?”

“Shigeru is an idiot sometimes, and they’re both anxious morons.” He looked around until he found Kyoutani’s bag thrown haphazardly against the wall. “Here.”

“Did…Kentarou confess?”

“Yes.” Shinji rifled through the bag until he found the three pages of a confession letter. “Jeez. I had a feeling he didn’t get to this part.”

“Is that–?”

“Yes.” He stood and bowed at a full ninety degrees. “Auntie, I promise that I will fix this, and Kentarou will return home to you feeling much better than when he left.”

She laughed and lightly chopped his head. “Stand up, Shinji. You know, you’re not responsible for everything your friends do.”

He sighed. “Yeah, but if I don’t help them, who will?”

“They’ll never last if you have to help them every step of the way, you know.”

“I won’t give them every step,” he vowed. “Only a nudge in the right direction.” He waved the letter in lieu of elaboration.

“Good luck.”

 

On the way to Yahaba’s house, Shinji Face-Timed Ennoshita. If Kyoutani wasn’t home, he was with Tanaka. If he was with Tanaka, Ennoshita knew where they were.

“Hey, Watari,” Ennoshita greeted, a sleepier smile than usual gracing his features.

“Hi, Ennoshita,” Shinji replied. “I’m sorry, you just got home from the training camp, right?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Ennoshita said through a yawn. “What’s up, Watari?”

“Do you happen to know where Tanaka and Kyoutani are? Ken kinda just…ran off and I’m pretty sure he went to see Tanaka?”

“Yeah!” That was a voice not belonging to Ennoshita. A beautiful woman with short, black hair leaned into frame. “He went to see Tanaka-kun and Hitoka-chan. They’re all going out for karaoke, I believe.”

“Noya gave me the address,” came another voice – Karasuno’s former ace. “I can send that to you if it would help?”

Shinji nodded. “Thank you very much, that would be helpful.”

“Do you know what’s going on?” Ennoshita asked. “I have to admit, I’m a little bit worried.”

“Confession gone wrong,” Shinji explained. “I don’t get it. I mean, I know I’m aroace, but _god_ , I don’t get it. They like each other; they’re just… _stupid_ , emotionally?”

“Aroace?” the beautiful woman repeated.

“ _Aroace_?” Asahi-san said, eyes sparkling.

“Do you – oh my god – do you wanna be in a group chat?!” the beautiful woman gasped. “I’m Shimizu Kiyoko! Demisexual, demiromantic! This is Azumane Asahi – they’re greysexual, homoromantic.”

“Group chat?” Shinji tilted his head.

“Ace-spec group chat,” Kiyoko confirmed. “There’s loads of us. Are. You. In.”

He nodded. “Yes, of – yes! I’m so in?”

 

**Ayyy-Spec**

_[DEMIzu added Watari into the chat.]_

_[DEMIzu changed Watari to WatARO.]_

**ShAROfukACE:** yo r u shittin me or is this a fr aroace pal

 **DEMIzu:** ask him :)

 **ShAROfukACE:** are you??????????????

 **WatARO:** oh my god are you?????????????????????

 **ShAROfukACE:** MARRY ME FOR TAX BENEFITS<3<3<3

 **WatARO:** I DO<3

 **GREYtori:** I was supposed to marry Yukie D:

 **ShAROfukACE:** marry ushijima, slut

 **WatARO:** wait who’s all here

 **ShAROfukACE:** Shirofuku Yukie, first-year in uni, Fukurodani alum!

 **DEMIzu:** Shimizu Kiyoko, first-year in uni, Karasuno alum

 **GREYtori:** Tendou Satori, first-year in uni, Shiratorizawa alum

 **GREYsahi:** Azumane Asahi, Karasuno alum

 **DEMIyama:** Kageyama Tobio, second-year at Karasuno

 **KenmACE:** Kozume Kenma, third-year at Nekoma

 **WatARO:** I’m Watari Shinji, third-year at Aoba Johsai!

 **WatARO:** I can’t believe…more ace-spec people, I…I’m sobbing

 **GREYtori:** you’re home now, Watachi

 **WatARO:** fuck you know Oikawa don’t you

 **GREYtori:** unfortunately 😒

 

“Stay there!”

Shinji raced past Yahaba into his room and grabbed the stack of poems. He stuffed them in his bag before grabbing a denim jacket to throw at Yahaba.

“We’re going out!”

Yahaba stumbled after him. “What?”

“ _We’re. Going. Out._ ” Shinji pulled him along. “I’m not letting you wallow, I’m not letting this get worse.”

 

The karaoke club was all blaring music and neon lights. It was pretty crowded, mostly with university students, but Shinji spotted Kyoutani’s group easily. As a matter of fact, it looked like Kyoutani was going up to sing.

He was decked out in a leather jacket, skin-tight black jeans, a studded belt, and combat boots. He was wearing black lipstick, and Shinji was pretty sure that was why Yahaba looked like he stopped breathing.

“Shinji…”

“Stay, Shigeru.”

Shinji continued to pull him through the crowd until they bumped into Yachi. Instantly, her eyes widened.

“You shouldn’t be here!” she hissed, glaring at Yahaba (as much as she could glare).

“I fucked up,” Yahaba admitted. “I just want to–”

“Nu-uh. Talk shit, get _hit_!” She promptly punched Yahaba in the stomach.

“ _Oof_ , okay, how are you that strong?” Yahaba mumbled.

“Get down,” she commanded.

Yahaba and Shinji both seemed to agree it was best to listen to her. Once they were hiding behind the table, a new song started playing.

Yahaba peaked up over the table to see. “I wonder if Ken can sing.”

“Shut up,” Yachi muttered through the side of her mouth. “This is therapeutic for him.”

_“Cross my heart, and hope to die; burn my lungs and curse my eyes.”_

“Holy shit,” Yahaba breathed.

_“I’ve lost control and I don’t want it back; I’m goin’ numb; I’ve been hijacked – it’s a fuckin’ drag.”_

Even Shinji could see where Yahaba was probably finding this hot. “So…Kentarou can sing.”

Yahaba nodded dumbly.

_“I taste you on my lips, and I can’t get rid of you; so I say, damn your kiss and the awful things you do. Cause you’re worse than nicotine, nicotine.”_

As Kyoutani went through the chorus, voice strong and a little gravelly and all-in-all perfect for the song he chose, Shinji kept glancing at Yahaba who was gaping like a fish.

“You good?”

Yahaba shook his head.

_“It’s better to burn than to fade away, it’s better to leave than to be replaced. I’m losing to you, baby I’m no match.”_

Yahaba rose up a little and propped his elbows on the table. “He’s so – so confident up there. That’s so fucking hot.”

“Even I have to agree with you there,” Shinji conceded.

As the second chorus ended, Kyoutani seemed to spot Yahaba. _“Just one more hit and then we’re through, ’cause you could never love me back. Cut every tie I have to you…’cause your love’s a fuckin drag…but I need it so bad. Your love’s a fuckin drag, but I need it so bad–”_

“That’s so fucking edgy but I love him anyways,” Yahaba muttered. “He’s really up there doing the most. I should be the extra one in this relationship. Shinji, we’ve gotta sing.”

When Kyoutani came down, he pointedly ignored Yahaba. Yahaba looked crestfallen, but Shinji could tell it wasn’t personal. No, Kyoutani seemed…embarrassed. Like his logic brain had caught up with his anxious brain and they were having a war. Yeah, Shinji understood that. He sighed and rubbed Yahaba’s back. These two morons would get through it eventually.

 

“Ken,” Yahaba said after the whole “punk” group finished their song. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

“Then, why – you can’t just fuckin – _Yahaba_ ,” Kyoutani stammered back, angry tears boiling in his eyes.

“I can’t sing and my English sucks ass!” Yahaba announced, grabbing Shinji’s hand. “So, please accept my apology in the form of embarrassing myself!”

“Whoa, hey,” Shinji said, realizing he was being pulled towards the stage. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“You’re helping me.”

“Wha– like _hell_ I am!”

“Shinji!”

Shinji wasn’t one for singing, and he didn’t see why he had to do this. He wasn’t the idiot who laughed in the face of the guy he liked. Come _on_.

“What are we doing?” he sighed, giving up.

“Fall Out Boy,” Yahaba decided. “Uhhh…this one. Yeah.”

Shinji nodded. “Let’s go, then.”

 _God, this is so embarrassing,_ Shinji thought to himself as he took this mic. Hopefully his moral support would be enough.

Yahaba took a deep breath. _“I never really feel a thing; I’m just kinda too frozen; you were the only one that even kind of came close. I just pinch myself – no longer comatose.”_

It wasn’t that Yahaba had a bad voice so much as he mumbled through a lot of the words he wasn’t sure how to pronounce. But Kyoutani was paying attention, and Shinji supposed that was what mattered. He jumped in at the pre-chorus to harmonize, aware of how quiet he must have sounded.

_“And when your stitch comes loose, I wanna sleep on every piece of fuzz and stuffing that comes out of you, you – I took too many hits off this memory.”_

Through the chorus, Yahaba’s grip on Shinji’s hand tightened. They were both shaking; Shinji knew they must’ve sounded awful. He figured he should probably sing with Yahaba to get him through the second verse.

_“I got too high again, realized I can’t not be with you or be just your friend. I love you to death but I just can’t, I just can’t pretend we weren’t lovers first. Confidants but never friends – were we ever friends?”_

Shinji squeezed Yahaba’s hand back. He tried not to think too much about how Yahaba owed him for this display of public humiliation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Want more info on the Ace-Spec GC? Make sure you're reading my UshiTen and KiyoYachi fics! Those'll have lots of explanation and eventual Watari content!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeet let's go weebs

_Cause I’m past the limits;_

_The distance between us,_

_It sharpens me like a knife._

 

Kentarou was too overwhelmed to watch Yahaba finish singing so he started to head outside. When he passed the table, he noticed a pile of lined paper sitting there…? _Is that…?_

Yahaba’s poems.

The ones Kentarou hadn’t been allowed to see.

His curiosity won over his moral dilemma, and he grabbed them before running out the back way into the quiet sideroad. He needed to breathe – he needed to know. What was true, what was just his anxiety?

 

**_Iris: I Have a Message for You_ **

_Flowers, roses, it’s always roses,_

_And I don’t usually go against the status quo._

_Purple roses._

_They don’t even say what I want them to,_

_So, why do I bother giving them to you?_

_“Love at first sight”?_

_Bull. Shit._

_Falling in love with you has been painfully slow and stupid,_

_And these roses can’t even begin to explain._

_Sunflowers for my admiration,_

_Pear blossoms for my affection._

_Striped tulips for your beautiful eyes,_

_White carnations for my endearment._

_Yellow tulips for a hopeless love,_

_French marigolds for my jealousy._

_A dog rose for pleasure and pain,_

_And yellow acacia for my secret._

_It’s too much and not enough and still doesn’t tell you everything._

_I admire you and I think you’re amazing,_

_And I’m honored to have you by my side._

_I hope that perhaps we could be friends._

_A pink rose,_

_Perhaps,_

_For friendship._

_Or maybe,_

_A garden rose,_

_“I share your sentiments.”_

_But I guess I’ll cross that bridge_

_When I come to it._

 

Kentarou stared at it. He’d received purple roses for Valentine’s Day, but…that was Yahaba? Before they were even friends with each other?

 _Yahaba_?

And it seemed like he didn’t even believe Kentarou felt the same– _what_ was happening.

“Kyoutani!”

He spun to see Yahaba running towards him.

“I’m so sorry!” Yahaba fell to the ground in a full, embarrassing, groveling bow. “I love you! I was laughing at _myself_ for questioning what we had, I swear! I know you have anxiety, and I should’ve said that first. That was what mattered!”

“Would you get the fuck up?” Kentarou muttered, pulling on Yahaba’s arm. “Fuckin embarrassing.”

“Please, forgive me.”

“Shit – are you _crying_?” Kentarou cupped Yahaba’s face to wipe away the tears. “I just needed some fuckin air. Dramatic asshole.”

“What was I supposed to think?” Yahaba pointed out, voice breaking. “Watari showed me the letter you wrote me. That – that was really sweet, Ken-chan.”

“…read your fuckin flower poem.”

Yahaba averted his gaze. “So…you know it was me, then?”

“Why didn’ you fuckin tell me you liked me forever ago?”

“Ha! Because I didn’t want to believe it.”

Kentarou brushed his nose against Yahaba’s. “Dumbass. I’ve liked you since second year, okay?”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. Soon as I found out you had a backbone and weren’t just some fuckin Oikawa two-point-o creampuff, I figured you were kinda hot. Or somethin’.”

“Glad we cleared that up,” Yahaba laughed. “I suck ass at feelings, I’m sorry.”

Kentarou snorted. “What is it with you and sucking ass?”

Yahaba grinned. “Well, if you want, I could–”

Kentarou clamped a hand over Yahaba’s mouth. “You are – no, that’s not going to happen. No.”

Yahaba rolled his eyes and pulled Kentarou’s hand down. “Can I kiss you, then? Properly, this time?”

Kentarou nodded. “Yeah.”

 

Sneaking Yahaba into his room was probably one of the better decisions Kentarou made throughout that evening. Getting there was a bit of a challenge, given that Yahaba kept grabbing his hips and kissing his neck at random.

He shushed the setter at least fifteen times as they both changed for bed.

A knock came on the door.

“Son, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Kentarou replied. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to you and Ka-san in the morning; promise.”

“Okay. Sleep well.”

“Night.”

He listened until the footsteps faded down the hall. Then, he felt a tug on the back of his shirt before he was thrown onto the bed.

“Shigeru,” he muttered, barely catching himself.

“Hm?” Yahaba tilted his head innocently, crawling over him.

Kentarou felt his cheeks heat up. “Be quiet.”

Yahaba made a show of zipping his lips and pretending to throw away the key before straddling Kentarou and leaning down. “Don’t even worry about it.”

Kentarou pushed himself up onto his elbows so their noses brushed. “I don’t trust you and your big mouth.”

“Trust me, I don’t plan on talking for the next hour or so.”

“Oh?”

“I’d rather kiss my boyfriend, you see.”

Kentarou hummed, then moved back. “Guess you better go to him, then, huh?”

Yahaba laughed and tugged Kentarou back to him. “Shut up and kiss me, dork.”

 

True to Yahaba’s word, it was about an hour before either of them were free to talk again.

“We’re here to sleep.”

“Cuddle?”

Kentarou rolled his eyes and opened his arms. “Clingy fuck.”

Yahaba crawled onto the bed and pressed himself as close to Kentarou as possible. “I love you.”

“Yeah. Fuckin, whatever.” Kentarou turned off the lamp. “Guess I love you too.”

 

Kentarou woke up to lips grazing his jaw and fingers tracing his arm.

“Shigeru?” he mumbled, turning to face him.

“Morning,” Yahaba replied, nuzzling their noses together. “I love you.”

Kentarou grunted in agreement – about the best he could do first thing in the morning – and leaned forward for a kiss. That seemed to be what Yahaba had been aiming for, because he pulled Kentarou flush against his chest and kissed him like it was the last time he’d be able to. Kentarou was too tired to contribute much, but he didn’t mind being at Yahaba’s mercy first thing in the morning.

Yeah, this was nice.

“Hey, Kenta– _oh_.”

Yahaba and Kentarou pushed each other away at the sound of the door opening. His father stood looking rather horrified in the doorway.

“Son.” Kyoutani-san took a deep breath. “We’re going to need to establish rules about boyfriends and bedrooms.”

“S-sorry, Kyoutani-san!” Yahaba said, rolling out of bed to bow. “I’ll – ah – head home! Sorry for the intrusion!”

“Oi, don’t fuckin abandon me!” Kentarou gasped, grabbing Yahaba’s arm. “All we did was sleep, I swear! He’s just…fuckin…twitchy, I dunno.”

Kyoutani-san eyed them both in mild disbelief. “Kitchen,” he decided, watching the two of them walk together downstairs.

Mitsuki looked unsurprised to see Yahaba. “Told you so.”

“Mitsuki, I love you, but you didn’t have to go and get them.”

“I’m sure it’s no worse than how your parents found out about us–”

“Ew, Mom,” Kentarou groaned, hitting his head against the counter. “Please. It’s not even _like that_.”

Yahaba nodded seriously beside him. “Just some romantic cuddling after a long day of arguing and misunderstandings.”

“And karaoke.”

“And poetry.”

“Mom, he wrote me a poem with a shitton of flower imagery. I’m going to have to like, fuckin, marry him. I think it’s the law.”

Kentarou’s parents looked between the two of them, both seeming to believe them a little more.

“So, you two worked this out?” Mitsuki verified.

“Yes,” Kentarou muttered.

“Good. Eat breakfast. Then, Yahaba, I’m going to call your mother because she’s probably freaking out wondering where you are.”

Yahaba nodded. “Yes, Kyoutani-san.”

“I’m glad you worked this out, though.”

 

Kentarou and Yahaba spent the last day of summer holiday together.

It was in Yahaba’s room, Kentarou straddling his lap and peppering him with kisses.

“Hey,” Yahaba said, pushing him back a little. “You ready for the tournaments that are coming up soon?”

Kentarou grinned. “Shigeru, we are so going to win. We’re going to Nationals.”

“If we go to Nationals, can I eat you out in Tokyo?”

He laughed in surprise. “If we– Shigeru.”

Yahaba laughed as well. “I’m just _saying_. It would be great incentive – for both of us.”

“You know what? If we win at least two games in Nationals, then yes.”

Yahaba smirked. “Well…I have a goal, then!”

“Fuckin weirdo,” Kentarou huffed before kissing him properly.

“Love you,” Yahaba breathed against his lips.

“Whatever,” Kentarou mumbled back before he pushed Yahaba onto the bed. “Just fuckin kiss me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let yahaba eat ass 2k19 (im kidding im so kidding xkjdhfa)
> 
> aaaHHHHHHHH it's done thank you everyone who read and stuck with me ILY so much and you mean so much to me and the comments really fueled me when I went through some rough times the past few months thank you so much <3
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/awkwardfangirl6) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit

**Author's Note:**

> I've actually almost written this entire fic to completion sooooo stay tuned for that?!
> 
> For the record, the rest of the fic reads much less awkwardly than this first chapter.


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